Waxes and asphaltenes are natural constituents of crude oils that can lead to significant operational problems. Even though they differ greatly in chemical properties, they are found frequently together in deposits. Traditional methods used to precipitate asphaltenes can yield asphaltenes contaminated with waxes. This phenomenon has been explained by coprecipitation, by the interaction between asphaltenes aliphatic moieties and waxes, and by occlusion of the waxes inside asphaltenes aggregates.  In this work, experimental adsorption isotherms were obtained for long n-alkanes onto substrates that contained exclusively aromatic carbons (graphene and graphite) and onto asphaltenes. The results show that all the isotherms are type S indicating cooperative adsorption of the n-alkanes. Based on the comparisons of adsorption behavior in different substrates, it seems that waxes adsorbed in the aromatic moieties of graphene and graphite.<br/>

Adsorption of long alkanes onto graphene, graphite, and asphaltenes

2019 Spring National Meeting

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