Probing Asphaltene Flocculation by a Quartz Crystal Resonator

To design a sensitive indirect technique to assess the onset of flocculation, the response in resonant frequency and dissipation of a quartz crystal resonator totally immersed in an asphaltene solution was studied during titration experiments. A change in the resonant properties at the onset of flocculation was indeed observed. Both the dissipation and resonance frequency were sensitive to the flocculation. However, it was noted that only the dissipation measurement can be exploited to detect the onset of flocculation.