T-C Phase Diagram of Asphaltenes in Solutions

Abstract

Comparative analysis of previously available and new experimental data reveals a complex structure of ambient pressure T-C phase diagram of asphaltenes in solutions, as well as in native petroleum. One of the characteristic properties of the diagram is an apparent series of temperature-controlled transitions between structural states in primary asphaltene nanoaggregates, presumably related to different types of intermolecular bonding. Hence, various earlier models of primary aggregates may be more closely related than conventionally believed.

Keywords:

• asphaltenes
• concentration
• phase diagram
• temperature