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Influence of asphaltene polarity on hydrate behaviors in water-in-oil emulsions
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  • Dongxu Zhang,
  • Qiyu Huang,
  • Wei Wang,
  • Rongbin Li,
  • Huiyuan Li,
  • Haimin Zheng,
  • Xiangrui Zhu,
  • Xun Zhang,
  • Yijie Wang
Dongxu Zhang
China University of Petroleum Beijing

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Qiyu Huang
China University of Petroleum Beijing
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Wei Wang
SINOPEC Dalian Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemcials
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Rongbin Li
China University of Petroleum Beijing
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Huiyuan Li
CNPC Research Institute of Safety Environmental Technology
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Haimin Zheng
China University of Petroleum Beijing
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Xiangrui Zhu
China University of Petroleum Beijing
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Xun Zhang
China University of Petroleum Beijing
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Yijie Wang
China University of Petroleum Beijing
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Abstract

Asphaltene was fractionated into four subfractions with different polarities, and used to conduct the hydrate formation and dissociation experiments. It was observed that the more polar fraction could result in a higher tendency of self-aggregation and fewer asphaltenes adsorbing at the water-oil interface mainly due to the larger C/H ratio, higher aromaticity, and shorter length of the alkyl side chain. The nucleation rate decreased with the presence of asphaltenes, and the induction time increased with a reduction in asphaltene polarity in water-in-oil emulsions. The results showed that the formed amount of hydrates were reduced by the addition of asphaltenes. For the asphaltene containing emulsions, less hydrate was formed with the presence of a more polar asphaltene fraction. The presence of asphaltenes was also found to affect the growth rate of hydrate, which varies with the polarity. Meanwhile, all four asphaltene fractions were found to promote the dissociation of hydrate.