Asphaltene is the most problematic compound in crude oil

1. ASPHALTENE
EFFECTS ON
BOMBAY HIGH
CRUDE
V.RESHMA SONA, S.VIJAYALAKSHMI,
III YEAR, B.TECH CHEMICAL ENGINEERING,
ACT CAMPUS,ANNA UNIVERSITY.

2. ABSTRACT
 ASPHALTENE PRECIPITATION ( DUE TO CHANGE
IN TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE AND COMPOSITION )
CLOG THE PIPELINES, RESERVOIRS, ETC.
 BOMBAY HIGH CRUDE, A LIGHTERCRUDE HAS
LESS ASPHALTENE CONTENT BUT ARE MORE
PRONE TO ASPHALTENE PRECIPITATION.

3. BOMBAY HIGH CRUDE
o An offshore oilfield 176 kilometres off the coast
of Mumbai run by ONGC
o Has two blocks - Mumbai High North and Mumbai
High South
o It supplies half of India’s domestic oil production.

4. OIL – CONSTITUENTS
 HYDROCARBONS - ( SARA )
1) SATURATES
2) AROMATICS
3) RESINS
4) ASPHALTENES
 NITROGEN
 SULPHUR
 OXYGEN
 METALS

5. ASPHATENES
 The most complex structures, highly polar
with very high molecular weight
 It’s constituents are C,H,N,O,S,Ni,V with
carbon –hydrogen ratio 1:1.2
 Insoluble in aliphatic hydrocarbons namely
n-heptane and n-pentane
 Soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons namely
toluene

6. DEPOSITION
 Asphaltene molecules aggregate and form
‘micelles’ which keep asphaltenes from
precipitation.
 Changes in temperature, pressure and
composition cause the micelles to break ,
resulting in asphaltene precipitation and
deposition.
 Formation of asphaltene deposits is one of the
most studied phenomena in the crude oil
processing.

7. REMOVAL / EXTRACTION
 Dispersants
 Solvents
They are similar to resins in crude.
Because resins cause asphaltenes
in suspension.
But these removal options are poor.

8. BEST SOLUTION
TWO DEPOSITION REMOVAL METHODS :
 ASTM D 2007-80
 ELECTRODEPOSITION

9. BOMBAY HIGH PROPERTIES
 API = 39.4
High value - Light crude
 SULPHUR = 0.17 wt%
Low sulphur - Sweet crude
 POUR POINT = 30 degree celcius
 Wax = 12.7 wt%
Heavy waxy crude

10. ASPHALTENE USES
road construction
 waterproofing and roofing
materials
corrosion inhibitors and other
products

11. CONCLUSION
Despite being the major problem in
petroleum industry, Asphaltenes has many
applications.
The less amount of asphaltene in Bombay
High Crude can be extracted and used in
other industries.

12. REFERENCES
1) Erika Chrisman, Vivian Lima and Priscila
Menechini ; Asphaltenes – Problems and
solutions in E&P of Brazilian Crude Oils
2) Lamia Goual ; Petroleum Asphaltenes
3) Mohammad Tavakkoli, Marty R. Grimes, Xiaoyu
Liu, Caitlin K. Garcia, Sarah C. Correa, Quinton J.
Cox, Francisco M. Vargas. Indirect Method: A
Novel Technique for Experimental Determination
of Asphaltene Precipitation.
4) Mullins, O. C. et al. (eds.) (2007) Asphaltenes,
Heavy Oils and Petroleomics, Springer, New York.