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As shown in Table3, all dilutions made with COL1 are API 16.6 19.0 20.7 23.4 27.2
eligible to be transported through pipelines at an average Kinematic
temperature of 86 °F (30 °C). They show API gravities higher viscosity
(mm2/s)
than 18 °API, kinematic viscosities lower than 350 mm2/s,
RVP values lower than 99.97 kPa, and acceptable asphaltene 70 ºF 1168.1 581.8 278.5 87.81 29.29
stabilities (Heithaus P values higher than 1.0). For economy 86 ºF 623.5 319.8 169.3 63.78 24.78
reasons, only those dilutions prepared with the minor amounts 100 ºF 381.7 200.8 114.7 49.42 21.62
of diluent (dilutions 1, 2 and 3) are the best candidates for
pipeline transportation. In the case of COL2, only dilutions 2 122 ºF 198.7 105.3 66.74 34.43 17.74
and 3 appear to be the most appropriate (Table 4).
S mass% 26.71 29.04 31.39 35.01 39.48
Table 3. Properties of COL1 heavy oil dilutions
A mass% 38.10 36.94 35.77 33.96 31.73
Dilutions R mass% 26.62 25.73 24.84 23.47 21.78
Property A mass%
1 2 3 4 5 6 8.57 8.29 8.00 7.56 7.01
R/A 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1
NGC vol% 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0 30.0
CII (*) 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.74 0.87
RVP (kPa) 29.5 35.75 40.5 43.5 46.75 52.5
FRmax 0.33 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.32
API 19.6 20.6 21.8 24.3 25.8 29.4
Pa 0.67 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.68
Kinematic
viscosity Po 0.80 0.78 0.78 0.76 0.64
(mm2/s)
P 2.44 2.32 2.28 2.23 2.02
70 ºF 432.4 320.0 203.0 102.0 69.5 31.8
(*) CII =(Saturates + Asphaltenes)/(Resins + Aromatics)
86 ºF 248.2 180.6 121.0 66.4 46.3 22.8
100 ºF 160.2 115.4 80.8 47.4 33.6 17.5
122 ºF 89.8 64.2 50.1 31.3 18.4 12.6
Tables 5 and 6 list the results of the Heithaus parameters
(FRmax, Pa, Po, and P) obtained after monitoring the dilutions
during 30 days of storage. The patterns described by the
S mass% 44.8 45.88 47.03 48.24 49.37 51.82 parameter P over time are of special interest for this study,
A mass% 27.41 26.9 26.36 25.8 25.27 24.13
since they represent the overall stability of the samples. Such
patterns are further discussed in the following section.
R mass% 14.93 14.62 14.29 13.94 13.62 12.92
A mass% 12.87 12.6 12.32 12.02 11.74 11.13
R/A 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16 1.16 DISCUSSION
CII (*) 1.36 1.41 1.46 1.52 1.57 1.70 The main effect of adding a light solvent to a heavy crude oil
FRmax 0.56 0.57 0.59 0.57 0.56 0.55 is the viscosity reduction produced on the later. Guevara et al.
(1998) have claimed that the reduction of the heavy oil’s
Pa 0.44 0.43 0.42 0.43 0.44 0.45
viscosity is exponential at low dilution ratios and then it
Po 0.94 0.93 0.94 0.89 0.84 0.81 reaches a linear behavior at higher diluent concentrations.
P 1.68 1.64 1.61 1.56 1.50 1.47 Pierre et al. (2004) have shown that this viscosity behavior
(*) CII =(Saturates + Asphaltenes)/(Resins + Aromatics) is intimately related to the decrease of the asphaltene
concentration in the oil, and that it obeys to a transition
from a non-Newtonian (viscoelastic) fluid to a Newtonian
fluid.
17.5 FRmax 0.57 0.53 0.52 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.54 18.0 FRmax 0.34 0.34 0.35 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.36
Pa 0.43 0.48 0.48 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.46 Pa 0.66 0.66 0.65 0.64 0.65 0.66 0.64
Po 0.93 0.79 0.79 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.83 Po 0.78 0.82 0.83 0.88 0.83 0.83 0.87
P 1.64 1.50 1.50 1.51 1.52 1.51 1.53 P 2.32 2.37 2.39 2.41 2.40 2.40 2.40
20.0 FRmax 0.59 0.56 0.54 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.57 22.0 FRmax 0.34 0.34 0.35 0.37 0.35 0.33 0.34
Pa 0.42 0.44 0.46 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.43 Pa 0.66 0.66 0.65 0.63 0.65 0.67 0.66
Po 0.94 0.84 0.85 0.87 0.88 0.88 0.9 Po 0.78 0.78 0.8 0.86 0.81 0.76 0.77
P 1.61 1.5 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.58 1.6 P 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.32 2.31 2.27 2.24
22.5 FRmax 0.57 0.54 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.55 0.56 28.0 FRmax 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.35
Pa 0.43 0.46 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.45 0.44 Pa 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.65
Po 0.89 0.8 0.79 0.79 0.79 0.84 0.84 Po 0.76 0.73 0.74 0.76 0.76 0.74 0.74
P 1.56 1.48 1.49 1.49 1.49 1.52 1.50 P 2.23 2.14 2.15 2.21 2.21 2.18 2.11
25.0 FRmax 0.56 0.55 0.54 0.56 0.56 0.56 0.56 35.0 FRmax 0.32 0.33 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.33 0.33
Pa 0.44 0.45 0.46 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 Pa 0.68 0.67 0.64 0.64 0.64 0.67 0.67
Po 0.84 0.81 0.79 0.82 0.85 0.84 0.84 Po 0.64 0.67 0.72 0.74 0.74 0.67 0.67
P 1.50 1.47 1.46 1.48 1.51 1.50 1.50 2.02 2.02 1.97 2.05 2.05 2.02 2.02
P
Po 0.81 0.74 0.75 0.77 0.82 0.81 0.83 When a light solvent with a high aliphatic character is
P 1.47 1.4 1.41 1.45 1.48 1.47 1.48 added to the viscous heavy oil, it produces the partial
destruction of the viscoelastic network, which in turn is
reflected as a reduction of the viscosity. If conditions are
According to Akbarzadeh et al., (2004), asphaltenes exist in given, asphaltene particles try to reestablish equilibrium by
heavy crude oils as aggregated particles that attract each other restoring the viscoelastic network; otherwise they
to form a viscoelastic network. This network is the responsible flocculate and precipitate (Akbarzadeh et al., 2004). This
for the high viscosity of the oil and it is kept stabilized by the process takes place after every addition of the diluent, so
action of surrounding resins and aromatic hydrocarbons. that the non-Newtonian-to-Newtonian transition occurs in a
progressive way. If dilution is carried out in an extent
The non-Newtonian-to-Newtonian transition has been related beyond the flocculation onset, the restoration process is
by Pierre et al. (2004) to the perturbing effects that the light completely inhibited and asphaltene precipitation takes
diluent produces on the asphaltenic viscoelastic network. place (Akbarzadeh et al., 2004).
300
Kinematic viscosity mm2/s Bottom
250
200
Top
150
Figure 5. Evolution of the Heithaus P parameter in COL1 and
COL2 dilutions with storage time. 100
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Trends clearly indicate that the entire set of COL1 dilutions
Storage time (days)
transit through a minimum of the Heithaus P parameter. In the
case of COL2, only the most diluted mixtures (28.0 and 35.0 Figure 6. Evolution of the kinematic viscosity at 86 °F of
vol% NGC) showed a similar trend. It is also observed in crude oil COL1 diluted with 20.0 vol% of NGC.
Figure 5 that, after few days, the Heithaus P parameter reaches Measurements were made on the fluid near the top and near
a plateau. The time elapsed from the preparation of dilutions the bottom of the sample container after 5, 15 and 30 days of
until the appearance of the minimum can be interpreted as the dilution preparation.
duration time of the perturbing effects caused by the diluent
on the viscoelastic network. Likewise, the time measured from All, the information collected in this research indicates that
the minimum point to the moment at which the curves reach both the perturbation and the restoration of the viscoelastic
the plateau can be understood as the time required for network is a kinetic phenomenon. Maqbool et al., (2009)
individual asphaltene particles to restore the network. The have obtained interesting results, in this regard, by monitoring
fluctuation patterns describe time-windows in which the the stability of mixtures prepared by diluting heavy oils with
peptization state of asphaltenes decreases before it reaches solvents composed of toluene and n-heptane (heptol). By
equilibrium. We have named these time-windows as the increasing the amounts of n-heptane in the heptol solvent,
“destabilization windows” and their limits vary from 0 to10 these authors found that heavy oil dilutions that appeared to be
days in COL1 dilutions with diluent concentrations ranging stable at the moment of preparation showed an evident
from 15.0 to 22.5 vol% and from 0 to 15 days in mixtures with formation of asphaltene precipitates after a long time of
more than 25.0 vol% of diluent (Figure 5). In the case of storage. The time at which asphaltene precipitation occurred
COL2, the destabilization window is only observed in (the onset time) varied from few minutes to several months,
dilutions with more than 28.0 vol% of diluent during the first depending upon the concentration of n-heptane in the solvent
seven days of storage. (Maqbool et al., 2009).
Apparently, the faster dilutions cross the non-Newtonian-to- It is important to emphasize that we did not observed the
Newtonian boundary, the wider the destabilization window formation of asphaltenic precipitates in any of the evaluated
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