Aplicação da Técnica FT-NIR no Estudo do Comportamento de Frações Pesadas do Petróleo

Abstract

Oil is a complex mixture whose composition and properties vary according to their origin and composition. Changes in pressure and temperature during production operations and processing can compromise the phase equilibrium of this mixture, resulting in the formation of solid precipitates. The deposition of these fractions can cause blockage of the reservoir and the drainage ducts causing damage to equipment and interfere with the quality of oil produced. Among the major heavy fractions with potential for the formation of deposits are asphaltenes. To treat this problem of asphaltene deposition is necessary to know more about their behavior in different oil samples. To obtain information of these precipitates Near Infrared spectroscopy coupled with Fourier transform was used to determine the onset of asphaltene precipitation in Brazilian petroleum, then these values beginning of precipitation were used to calculate the solubility parameters of the samples, the use of near infrared targets the improvement in the experimental determination of the start point of asphaltene precipitation obtained previously by optical microscopy. The results of solubility parameter obtained by the two techniques were compared.