High‐throughput packed‐bed microreactors with in‐line analytics for the discovery of asphaltene deposition mechanisms

Abstract

in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com)Understanding asphaltene nanoaggregation kinetics is a key to predicting the deposition in pure quartz-grain porous media. High-throughput quartz packed-bed microreactors (lPBRs) were, therefore, designed to provide mechanistic insights by merging oilfield chemistry and microchemical systems. In-line UV-Vis spectroscopy and pressure transducer were used to characterize the stable packing of quartz particles with porosity of $40% and permeability of $5.5 3 10 213 m 2 . Temperature (25.0-90.0 C), n-heptane composition (50.0-80.0 vol %), and n-alkane (n-C 5 to n-C 9 ) were all observed to influence asphaltenes deposition in the porous media, and reduced dispersion was obtained in the damaged packed-bed by estimating dispersion coefficients and the Bodenstein number. Deposition by mechanical entrapment dominated the mechanism in all scenarios, as discovered by the simplified Kozeny-Carman and Civan's permeability-porosity relationships. The results could aid in the design of remediations that minimize production losses of considerable economic magnitude.

Examining Asphaltene Solubility on Deposition in Model Porous Media

“…Hu et al showed that mechanical entrapment is the dominant mechanism for insoluble asphaltene deposition in a packed-bed device. 23,24 The dynamics of the deposition growth were governed by the relative contributions of convection and diffusion. The deposition profiles for the asphaltene aggregate at various times are shown in Figure 5.…”

Hydrodynamics and mass transfer of gas–liquid flow in micropacked bed reactors with metal foam packing

“…It has the advantages of better multiphase mixing and higher heat and mass transfer while maintaining the benefits of classical fixed beds: ease of fabrication, continuous flow, and catalyst immobilization . Because of these advantages, μPBRs have been applied in oxidation, hydrogenations, deprotection, fast catalyst screening, and synthesis of hazardous materials …”

Chromatography as an inspiration for microreactors

“…Either the channel wall can then be rendered porous or a packing can be inserted in the microchannel. With an improper packing design this can however lead to a serious broadening of the RTD, but it can also give an opportunity to narrow the RTD as Hu et al demonstrated. While an initially empty microreactor (0.15 × 0.15 × 340 mm, 1.48–14.8 mm s −1 , 0.3–3 min) produced a Bodenstein number Bo = 52, Bo = 229 was observed after packing the microreactor with quartz particles of 20 to 40 µm.…”