Evaluation of a commercial inhibitor effect on asphaltene size distribution:theoretical and experimental study

In this article the aggregation and sedimentation processes of asphaltene particles in toluene and n-heptane mixture are studied. Flowsolve112 a commercial asphaltene inhibitor is examined in this mixture. The size distribution evolution at the three sections are determined through image processing technique in a settling column setup. The effect of inhibitor on the size distribution of asphaltenes which are extracted from an Iranian crude oil is investigated. A time-driven Monte Carlo (MC) model is applied to predict asphaltene aggregate size distribution during sedimentation in toluene and heptane media. It is observed that flowsolve112 could be stabilized and delay the sedimentation process of the asphaltene particles. The results of MC model are in good agreement with the experimental results.