Abstract
Asphaltene precipitation is one of crucial problems in oil industry that negatively affects oil production, transportation, and processing, imposing high costs. In recent years, numerous experimental studies have been conducted to analyze inhibition of asphaltene precipitation using nanoparticles. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are employed for the first time to investigate the effect of Fe3O4 and polythiophene-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles on asphaltene aggregation phenomena. In addition, the structure of asphaltene is determined based on elemental analysis, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, and FTIR. The number of molecules and average size of asphaltene aggregates in the presence of nanoparticles show a considerable decrease in aggregation, compared to the case without nanoparticles due to delay in growth of asphaltene aggregates. Asphaltenes tend to adsorb on surface of nanoparticles as a result of interaction forces. Consequently, smaller and/or fewer aggregates of asphaltene precipitate on the quartz surface. The simulation results show a good match with the experimental data.
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