Patent · US Expired

Field dispersant test for determining the fouling tendency of a crude oil process

US5156975A · kind A · utility

4Cited by
4References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJul 3, 1990
Grant dateOct 20, 1992
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 3, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10T436/212
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The methods and test kit of the present invention provide a fast, inexpensive, reproducible, simple, and accurate method for optimizing the dosage of an asphaltene dispersant antifouling agent for a given crude oil containing asphaltenes. A method is provided wherein a sample of the crude oil is diluted with a quantity of an aromatic organic solvent. To the diluted crude oil is added a known amount of the antifouling agent being evaluated. A portion of the diluted crude oil containing the antifouling agent is removed and mixed with a quantity of a liquid paraffinic hydrocarbon. The concentration of materials which remain dispersed in the liquid paraffinic hydrocarbon is measured. The inventive methods are useful to evaluate a single dose of an antifouling agent or may be used to simultaneously evaluate a plurality of doses in order to determine which dose is most effective for a given sample of crude oil.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.