A flow through apparatus was constructed to quantify the amount of fouling that occurs for crude oils within a heated tube with skin temperatures between 150-400 °C—similar to heat exchangers within the preheat train. Initial experimental conditions were fixed using 400 psi backpressure, 350 °C skin temperature, and a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. Preliminary fouling experiments were conducted using a stable crude oil diluted with various ratios of heptane to simulate an oil with various degrees of asphaltene stability. The heptane diluted crude oil provided a carefully controlled model oil so that some of the limits of the new fouling apparatus could be defined. As expected, when the ratio of heptane to oil is increased fouling was detected at earlier times and the rate of fouling increased. With this understanding, the fouling apparatus was used to study the fouling behavior of different crude oils.

Fouling apparatus to measure heat induced asphaltenic fouling of crude oils

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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