Deasphalted oil: a natural asphaltene solvent

摘要

Asphaltene deposition in the near-wellbore region can block pore throats, change wettability characteristics and relative-permeability relationships, and therefore, reduce oil produciton. Conventional aromatic solvents (e.g., toluene,xylene) alone or in combination with various dispersants are used to remove asphaltene damage from the near-wellbore region. However, these aromatic solvents are expensive and are not environemtally friendly. The objective of this work was to systematically evaluate the asphaltene-solvating power of various non conventional solvents, including deasphalted oil, using a light-scattering technique.