Experimental study on the change of the onset of asphaltene precipitation during oil production

Abstract

During oil production from stratum to wellbore, to prevent the asphaltene precipitation, the rules of the changes of the onset of asphaltene precipitation under different temperature and pressure are systematically studied by laboratory experiment. The results show that the AOPP of the oil samples at 30 °C, 50 °C, and 70 °C are 20 MPa, 17.7 MPa, and 15.5 MPa, respectively. Combined with the temperature and pressure curve of the sampling wellbore, it is predicted that the depth of asphaltene precipitation in the wellbore is 1200–1400 m, which is extremely important for the prevention of asphaltene precipitation during oilfield exploitation.

Keywords:

• oil production
• onset of asphaltene precipitation
• pressure
• prevention
• temperature