Critical Study of a Residual Viscosity Correlation of JOSSI: Pure Hydrocarbons Case

Abstract

The most common residual viscosity correlation used in the petroleum models is JOSSI et al [1] where the residual viscosity is represented by a polynomial function of 4th degree involving the reduced density ρr ([(η-η*)ξ+10-4]1/4=Σ41=0(aiρri)). Based on this formula, it is possible to predict various uncertainties that can be accumulated and thus alter the performance of viscosity restitution which depends on several factors:The quality of the initial adjustment of the coefficients ai;The precision on the density;The accuracy with which are known the characteristics of the constituents of bases;The validity of the rule of the mixtures selected for the determination of the pseudo-critical coordinates Tcm and Pcm and the equivalent molar mass of the mixture.As far as the results are concerned, we reveal that with the new set of coefficients it is possible to obtain a more preciserepresentation compared to that of JOSSI. The method of JOSSI seems to be especially interesting for the viscosities restitution of systems containing light and close paraffins. However, for some pure substances, the opposite situation could be true. Among the four equations-of-state used, it has been found that the cubic equation-of-stateof PENG and ROBINSON should not be used since we would like to generate the density. Finally, we are not expecting a perfect systematic representation. As demonstrated in our model, if for light alkanes one can expect an average deviation ofless than 10%, for certain pure substances the deviation exceeds 20%.