Investigation of crude oils compatibility and relationship with their properties

Abstract

The compatibility/incompatibility of crude oils will affect the asphaltene precipitation and finally for sludge deposition if such oils are storaged or blending together. Normally, the refineries process a mixture of several crude oils owing to economic, technical and political aspects. In this study, four crude oils were characterized and investigated in order to determine physical-chemical properties and insolubility number (IN) and blending solubility number (SBN). The result revealed that two pair of crude oils are fully compatible and the remaining are partly compatible. The volume limitation of each crude oil in the mixture is proposed. In addition, the relationship between the compatibility and physico-chemical properties of crude oils is discussed. In fact, the crude oil which possessed high wax content and low resins to asphaltenes ratio possesses low stability. This finding might provide a new and valuable strategy for solving the foulings in crude oil tanks and processing units in refineries.