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The asphaltenes.

Oliver C Mullins¹

¹Schlumberger-Doll Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. Mullins1@slb.com

Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry (Palo Alto, Calif.)

|June 22, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Asphaltenes, heavy crude oil components, significantly impact petroleum utilization. Recent advances in petroleomics enable a predictive science for understanding and managing these complex substances.

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Area of Science:

Petroleum Science
Organic Chemistry
Materials Science

Background:

Asphaltenes are the heaviest, most aromatic components of crude oil.
They possess solid characteristics that impart critical, often detrimental, properties to petroleum fluids.
These properties include high viscosity, emulsion stability, low distillate yields, and undesirable phase separation.

Purpose of the Study:

To address fundamental uncertainties in asphaltene behavior.
To enable a first-principles approach to asphaltene science.
To establish a predictive framework for asphaltene science and petroleomics.

Main Methods:

Recent advances in analytical chemistry, particularly mass spectrometry.
Identification of thousands of distinct chemical species in crude oils and asphaltenes.
Codification of molecular and nanocolloidal properties within the modified Yen (Yen-Mullins) model.

Main Results:

Resolution and codification of basic molecular and nanocolloidal properties of asphaltenes.
Development of the modified Yen (Yen-Mullins) model.
Enabling of predictive asphaltene science through new understanding.

Conclusions:

Fundamental uncertainties in asphaltene science have been significantly reduced.
The modified Yen model provides a basis for predictive asphaltene science.
Petroleomics, integrating predictive petroleum science, offers a framework for future advancements in understanding crude oil components.