Impact of Inorganic Salts and Minerals on Asphaltene Stability and Inhibitor Performance

Abstract

Maintaining overall asphaltene stability is imperative for a successful flow assurance treatment program. However, complex interactions between the polar asphaltene fraction and other components in crude oil or reservoir minerals makes the stability assessment extremely challenging. These interactions can contribute towards the precipitation and subsequent deposition of unstable asphaltene clusters comprising of impurities such as paraffin, polar organics, and inorganic mineral composites. This study investigates the impact of inorganic salts and minerals on asphaltene stability and inhibitor performance efficiency. Four problematic crude oil samples having asphaltene deposition issue along with its field deposits were analyzed. Primary characterization of oil samples was conducted by measuring physicochemical properties. Crude oil and deposit samples were further evaluated by performing multiple compositional analyses like Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) Spectroscopy, Carbon Chain Distribution (CCD), and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). Furthermore, asphaltene inhibitor performance efficiency was measured by carrying out both dispersion test analyses. Primary characterization of crude oil samples did not suggest any anomalous behavior indicative of unstable asphaltene fraction. However, the solid field deposition in the production and flow-lines were observed. Therefore, further analyses of the oil as well as the solid deposits was necessitated. The analyses revealed unusually high concentration of inorganic impurities co-precipitating out with the asphaltene fraction. In general, polar nature of asphaltene induces van der Waals force of attraction between permanent dipoles (Keesom), induced dipoles (London dispersion), and permanent with induced dipoles (Debye). Paraffin and polar organic fractions associate with asphaltene through van der Waals forces and reduces the active polar sites available for the inhibitor to interact with. Moreover, presence of ions within the salts and inorganic minerals introduce ion-ion or ion-dipole interactions, which are considerably stronger than the van der Waals forces. Thus, these interactions with ionic salts and minerals interfere with the inhibitor-asphaltene interactions to a greater extent and consequently reduces the inhibitor performance efficiency significantly within laboratory screening methods. This study, for the first time, highlights detailed contribution of impurities, specifically of ionic salts and minerals originated from drilling and completion fluids or reservoir minerals, on the overall asphaltene stability and inhibitor performance efficiency. The molecular forces arising due to co-precipitation of organic and inorganic minerals were observed to impact the asphaltene inhibitor performance considerably. Therefore, it is important to comprehend the compositional and elemental content of both crude oil and field deposit samples and accordingly select asphaltene testing methodology and modify the asphaltene inhibitor chemistry.