title: Determination of the asphaltene and carboxylic acid content of a heavy oil using a microfluidic device.
abstract: Heavy oil utilisation is set to increase over the coming decades as reserves of conventional oil decline. Heavy oil differs from conventional oil in containing relatively large quantities of asphaltene and carboxylic acids. The proportions of these compounds greatly influence how oil behaves during production and its utilisation as a fuel or feedstock. We report the development of a microfluidic technique, based on a H-cell, that can extract the carboxylic acid components of an oil and assess its asphaltene content. Ultimately this technology could yield a field-deployable device capable of performing measurements that facilitate improved resource management at the point of resource-extraction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology & Pet. Geology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK. s.a.bowden@aabdn.ac.uk
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bowden
authors.forename: Rab
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parnell
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005648:Fuel Oils / Q000032:analysis*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D010578:Petroleum
chemical_list: D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D005648:Fuel Oils; D009821:Oils; D010578:Petroleum