Arriving at a set of general rules for understanding the precipitation of asfaltenes requires using several approaches, and determination of the effects of variables, including oil composition, temperature, and pressure on the stability of asfaltenes. The approach employed here focuses on the dependence of the solvation power of model fuels on their compositions and temperature. We have employed solvatochromic probes in order to evaluate the dependence of overall polarity (ET  ), and dipolarity/polarizability (p*) of mixtures (decalines-isooctane-xylenes-1-octanol) on composition at 25 and 50 �  C. We observed that p* is more sensitive to mixture composition than ET  , due to preferential solvation by xylenes and 1-octanol. Increasing the temperature changes the composition of the probe solvation shell, and decreases the dependence of the solvatochromic response on mixture composition; this may be related to asfaltene precipitation.

Attempt at understanding the precipitation of asfaltenes: Determination of the solvation power of model fuels by solvatochromic probes

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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