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Solvent And Concentration Effects Governing The Hierarchical Organization Of Asphaltenes: A Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering Study, Hasan Rejoanur Rahman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Asphaltenes are a group of planar molecules found in crude oil and are prone to aggregation which often causes blockage of pipes along the oil production stream resulting a huge economic downside. In an effort to understand the hierarchical organization of asphaltene in different solvents and concentrations, the solution structure of various asphaltene solutions were studied using small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). Solvents were chosen based on miscibility maps. Such maps are generated on the critical value of the solubility parameter difference between asphaltenes or asphaltene components, and a range of solvents. The critical factors that affect asphaltene and asphaltene component …