Petroleum Crude Oil Research Articles

THE HEATING PATTERN OF THE MICROWAVE DEHYDRATOR FOR TREATING PETROLEUM CRUDE OILS

The effect of microwave dehydrator (modified domestic microwave oven) different types of petroleum oils were investigated in this paper, since microwave heats material selectively and volumetrically in relatively short time, and since its application in treating petroleum emulsion is tremendously recommended, thereof, it is the aim of this paper to investigate the microwave induced heating capacities of the individual components of the petroleum emulsion mixture. Three types of crude petroleum oils and water samples were put into test, from the result of this study, the temperature profile was observed to proceed as follow, at the first 20 seconds, all samples had similar temperature profiles in the range (50-60 ⁰C), however, beyond 20 seconds there was a clear distinct trend for every sample, in the interval from 20 seconds to 110 seconds, water sample had the curve with the highest temperature profile followed by UAE crude oil, then Saudi Arabia oil. Beyond 110 seconds, Kuwait crude oil had the maximum temperature profile continued sharply without reaching any plateau, followed by UAE then Saudi Arabia crude oil. The volumetric rate of heat generation also found to be in such a way that water sample had the maximum numerical value in the range (1-1.2 cal/s.cm 3 ) at the beginning then decays as the heating time goes on, followed by that of Kuwait oil (0.8-1 cal/s.cm 3 ), then Saudi Arabia crude oil (0.6-0.8 cal/s.cm 3 ). Furthermore water also found to have the highest dielectric loss ranged between (7-8) and lowest wavelength in the range (1.5-2) followed by all the oil samples which had constant and identical dielectric properties in the range (0-0.5) and wavelength of 8 Cm. from the experimental results of this research, one can conclude that although both water and crude oils can interact effectively with microwave radiation yet the mechanism may not be the same since oils were shown to have very low dielectric loss. Another observation is different crude oils have different heating pattern, there this had to be into consideration when studying crude emulsion or refining.

Robust Technique Allowing the Manufacture of Superoleophobic (Omniphobic) Metallic Surfaces

Omniphobic metallic surfaces obtained with a robust two‐stage process are reported. The surfaces demonstrate high apparent contact angles accompanied with a low contact angle hysteresis for a variety of liquids, including water, diidomethane, canola, castor, silicone oils, and crude petroleum oil. The superoleophobicity was achieved by fluorination of the nano‐rough aluminum surfaces under treatment with perfluorononanoic acid, as established by TOF‐SIMS spectrometry. The stability of the Cassie wetting regime was investigated. The critical surface tension of a liquid corresponding to the onset of wetting transitions was established experimentally.

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch and Sugarcane Bagasse Enhance the Bioremediation of Soil Artificially Polluted by Crude Oil

Contamination of soil by petroleum hydrocarbons is becoming prevalent in Malaysia. Infiltration of soil contamination into groundwater poses a great threat to the ecosystem and human health. Bioremediation can occur naturally or can be enhanced with supplementation of microorganisms and fertilizers. However, fertilizers are expensive and therefore alternative nutrient-rich biomaterials are required. In this study, two organic wastes from agricultural industry (i.e., sugarcane bagasse and oil palm empty fruit bunch) were investigated for possible enhanced bioremediation of soil contaminated with Tapis crude oil. Two bacterial strains isolated and characterized previously (i.e., Pseudomonas aeruginosa UKMP-14T and Acinetobacter baumannii UKMP-12T) were used in this study. Sugarcane bagasse (5% and 15%, w/w) and oil palm empty fruit bunch (20%, w/w) were mixed with soil (500 g) spiked with Tapis crude oil (3%, v/w). The treated soils as well as controls were incubated for 20 days under controlled conditions. Sampling was carried out every four days to measure the number of bacterial colonies (CFU/g) and to determine the percentage of oil degradation by gas chromatography. The two biostimulating agents were able to maintain the soil moisture holding capacity, pH, and temperature at 38-40% volumetric moisture content (VMC), 7.0, and 29–30°C; respectively. The growth of bacteria consortium after 20 days in the treatment with sugarcane bagasse and oil palm empty fruit bunch had increased to 10.3 CFU/g and 9.5 CFU/g, respectively. The percentage of hydrocarbon degradation was higher in the soil amended with sugarcane bagasse (100%) when compared to that of oil palm empty fruit bunch (97%) after 20 days. Our results demonstrated the potential of sugarcane bagasse and oil palm empty fruit bunch as good substrates for enhanced bioremediation of soil contaminated with petroleum crude oil.

Biomass Conversion Technologies for Renewable Energy and Fuels: A Review Note.

The world’s energy markets rely heavily on the fossil fuels coal, petroleum crude oil, and natural gas as sources of thermal energy; gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels; and chemicals. Since millions of years are required to form fossil fuels in the earth, their reserves are finite and subject to depletion as they are consumed. The only natural, renewable carbon resource known that is large enough to be used as a substitute for fossil fuels is biomass. This article gives an overview of the state-of-the-art of key biomass conversion technologies currently deployed and technologies that may play a key role in the future, including possible linkage to CO2 capture and sequestration technology (CCS). In doing so, special attention is paid to production of biofuels for the transport sector, because this is likely to become the key emerging market for large-scale sustainable biomass use. A range from 200 to 300 EJ may be observed looking well into this century, making biomass a more important energy supply option than mineral oil today. A key issue for bio-energy is that its use should be modernized to fit into a sustainable development path. Especially promising are the production of electricity via advanced conversion concepts (i.e. gasification and state-of-the-art combustion and co-firing) and modern biomass derived fuels like methanol, hydrogen and ethanol from ligno-cellulosic biomass, which can reach competitive cost levels within 1–2 decades (partly depending on price developments with petroleum). The gasification route offers special possibilities to combine this with low cost CO2 capture (and storage), resulting in concepts that are both flexible with respect to primary fuel input as well as product mix and with the possibility of achieving zero or even negative carbon emissions. Further biomass market development, consistent policy support, RD&D efforts and international collaboration are essential to achieve this.

No war, no peace

The armed conflict over crude petroleum oil in the Niger Delta has raged for several decades. A host of peace initiatives have been adopted by the Nigerian state to address it, but with minimal impact. The amnesty offer to repentant militias in 2009 by President Umaru Yar'Adua's administration is one of the most recent and broadest peace initiatives by the Nigerian government intended to end the general tendency to warfare and the absence of peace in the Niger Delta. This article, based on secondary sources of data, examines the components of the amnesty, its critical problems and their implications for peacebuilding in the Niger Delta. It finds that though the programme has engendered relative peace, the issues and grievances that occasioned the general tendency to warfare and absence of peace in the region – such as inequitable distribution of oil revenue, environmental degradation, and underdevelopment – are not properly articulated in the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration components of the programme. Thus, it holds that the prevailing situation in the region largely approximates a swinging pendulum of no war, no peace.

Optimization and validation of low field nuclear magnetic resonance sequences to determine low water contents and water profiles in W/O emulsions

In earlier studies, several NMR procedures have been developed to follow the separation of water and oil. In particular, one of these procedures allows for determining the water content profile of the samples, i.e. the concentration of water as a function of the vertical position in the sample. This method is capable of following the separation but has a detection limit close to 5v/v% water content with the used settings. Since an oil is required to contain less than 0.5v/v% water to be qualified as export quality, this detection limit of 5v/v% is not sufficient for assessing whether an oil is dry or not. For this reason, the above-mentioned water content profile determination method and the CPMG sequence which only measures the average of the water content of the entire sample have been optimized specifically for determining low water contents. These methods have been tested using both model emulsions and petroleum crude oil emulsions in samples with or without free water.It is shown that the optimized NMR sequences are capable of measuring right low water contents. In one case, however, some discrepancy is found between results from NMR and Karl Fisher titrations. Possible explanations for this discrepancy are discussed. The developed NMR techniques allows to determine low water contents in 6 to 14min and have a detection limit between ≈0.3 and ≈0.5–1.0v/v%, depending on the method used.

ASI: Hydrothermal extraction and characterization of bio‐crude oils from wet chlorella sorokiniana and dunaliella tertiolecta

In this research, the potential of geothermal water as an alternative water source was tested for the production of algal bio‐fuels. Two algal species, Chlorella Sorokiniana and Dunaliella Tertiolecta were cultivated in a photo‐bioreactor with tap water and geothermal water. The freshly harvested wet algae samples were used to produce bio‐crude oil samples in a high pressure reactor under a hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) condition (300°C, 90 bar and solid loading of 9 wt %). Supernatant water obtained after harvesting was used in the HTL experiments. A thermogravimetric analyzer was used to determine the moisture and ash content of the algal biomass. It was observed that the bio‐crude oil yield could be higher than the lipid content in the algae. The GC‐MS analysis of biocrude oils showed the contribution of both lipids and proteins to the yield of biocrude. The highest bio‐crude oil yield of 30 wt % (of dry algae) was obtained with a Dunaliella Tertiolecta sample cultivated in a regular tap water medium. A similar amount of biocrude was achieved with a geothermal water medium. Using a calorie meter, the high heating values of bio‐crude oils were measured and these values ranged from 36 to 38 MJ/kg, which are close to that of crude petroleum oils. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 32: 910–915, 2013

A GHS-consistent approach to health hazard classification of petroleum substances, a class of UVCB substances

The process streams refined from petroleum crude oil for use in petroleum products are among those designated by USEPA as UVCB substances (unknown or variable composition, complex reaction products and biological materials). They are identified on global chemical inventories with unique Chemical Abstract Services (CAS) numbers and names. The chemical complexity of most petroleum substances presents challenges when evaluating their hazards and can result in differing evaluations due to the varying level of hazardous constituents and differences in national chemical control regulations. Global efforts to harmonize the identification of chemical hazards are aimed at promoting the use of consistent hazard evaluation criteria. This paper discusses a systematic approach for the health hazard evaluation of petroleum substances using chemical categories and the United Nations (UN) Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of classification and labeling. Also described are historical efforts to characterize the hazard of these substances and how they led to the development of categories, the identification of potentially hazardous constituents which should be considered, and a summary of the toxicology of the major petroleum product groups. The use of these categories can increase the utility of existing data, provide better informed hazard evaluations, and reduce the amount of animal testing required.

Potential applications and emerging trends of species of the genus Dietzia: a review

Interest in attractive biological sources with multicriteria applications has been increasing during recent years. This study scrutinized the applications of Dietzia bacteria for future prospects. Apart from such present and well-established applications—as in therapeutic biotreatments for adult paratuberculosis animals, production of carotenoid pigments, and animal feed additives—their uses in biosurfactants and biodemulsifiers production, the pollutants bioremediation, biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons and crude oil and also production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) have been exploited. The use of these bacteria as a biotechnological tool may lead to improve the optimization and quality assurance of food ingredients and products, the capability of degradation and remediation of environmental pollutants, and the efficiency of bioconversion systems for energy recovery and bioprocessing of value-added products.

Application of the biosurfactants produced by Bacillus spp. (SH 20 and SH 26) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa SH 29 isolated from the rhizosphere soil of an Egyptian salt marsh plant for the cleaning of oil - contaminataed vessels and enhancing the biodegradation of oily sludge

During the screening for biosurfactant-producing bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere soil of an Egyptian salt marsh plant, three bacterial strains (Bacillus spp. SH 20 and SH 26, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa SH 29) were most active strains. Biosurfactants produced by the three bacterial strains were stable at wide range of pH (1 to 14), wide range of temperature (0 to 121°C) and salinity (5 to 15% NaCl). The two Bacillus species were able to produce high E24 values for petroleum oil (75 to 84.4%), while P. aeruginosa was able to produce E24 value of 62%. Accordingly, the sterilized broth culture (supernatants) containing the biosurfactants produced by the two Bacillus spp. were used for enhancing the bioremediation of oily sludge-contaminated soil. On the other hand, the sterilized supernatant of P. aeruginosa was applied for cleaning oil-contaminated vessels. The results show that addition of the supernatant of Bacillus sp. SH 26 stimulated the biodegradation of the oily sludge (34.0% w/w); this is in contrast to biodegradation of 28.0 and 22.2% of the oil in presence of uninoculated medium and the supernatant of Bacillus sp. SH 20. When the contaminated soil was treated with the mixture of the two supernatants of the two Bacillus spp., no biodegradation of the oil above 26.3% was observed. This may indicate inhibitory effect on some of the oil degraders present in this system, due to the presence of the biosurfactant produced by Bacillus sp. SH 20. When the phytogenic biosurfactant was applied as a comparison, it was of interest to find that this biosurfactant was able to degrade 53.8% of the oil, and this represent excellent candidate for enhancing bioremediation of oil contaminated sites. This was followed by the microbial biosurfactant (34%) produced by Bacillus sp. SH 26. The results of cleaning oil-contaminated vessels by applying the supernatant of P. aeruginosa SH 29 show that after 15 min of the addition of the supernatant, the oil was recovered from the bottom and walls of the vessels and floated on the supernatant as a distinct phase. This indicates that the sterilized supernatant of P. aeruginosa SH 29 can be used directly for cleaning oil storage tanks and other vessels used for transportation and storage of crude petroleum oil. Key words: Biosurfactants, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus sp., bioremediation, cleaning oil-contaminated vessels

Critical Analysis of Process Parameters for Bio-oil Production via Pyrolysis of Biomass: A Review

Pyrolysis is the destructive distillation of the biomass at high temperature in absence of oxygen. Depending upon the heating rate and residence time of vapors during the pyrolysis process, it is classified into slow and fast pyrolysis. Slow pyrolysis generally produces less amount of bio-oil and higher amount of charcoal than fast pyrolysis. This is attributed to the longer residence time for slow pyrolysis. A critical review on this subject has been elucidated in this article. It implies that the different constituents of biomass i.e. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are degraded at different temperature ranges. Moreover, the elemental composition of the initial biomass found to govern the bio-oil production such as C, H, N and O which are primarily dependent upon the types of waste materials. Thus, actual bio-oil production potential depends on feed materials, type of reactor, operating temperature, heating rate, volatile matter, carbon content, sweep gas flow rate and residence time. Bio-oil chemical compositions are also affected by the operating temperatures during the pyrolysis of biomass. The kinetic study of different biomass materials and methods applied to evaluate activation energy, accordingly, are also reviewed and listed. In this review article, a critical analysis of the factors upon which bio-oil production depends are emphasized with appropriate citation. It also covers an extensive literature review to ascertain the effect of operating parameters on pyrolysis of biomass. This article also focuses about the estimated waste biomass potential in India. Efforts are also made to highlight the estimated potential of biomass sources for bio-oil production in Indian perspective. An estimate shows that approximately 7% of petroleum crude oil can be compensated with the bio-oil if all the waste biomasses available in the country were properly used.

Synergism of Wild Grass and Hydrocarbonoclastic Bacteria in Petroleum Biodegradation

Synergism of Wild Grass and Hydrocarbonoclastic Bacteria in Petroleum Biodegradation

Determinant of Volatility Natural Rubber Price

This paper will investigate the determinant that make natural rubber price volatile, first of all, Malaysia is the third largest producer of natural rubber after Thailand and Indonesia. In this research paper the researcher will determine factor that will affect volatility natural rubber (latex) price in Malaysia. With the objectives of describing the high volatility in natural rubber price may be a result of international trade (export and import), inflation and crude oil petroleum. The data used for this study is from 1998-2012 every monthly that obtained from statistic rubber Malaysia and data stream. Therefore, a multiple regression been used as to test the hypothesis and identify the relationship between variables, another test that researcher do for this research are stationary test, hetero test, correlation test, multicolinerity test and Ramsey test. Whereby, the dependent variables for this study are Volatility natural rubber price in Malaysia, while the independent variables are crude oil petroleum price, inflation, export and import. Based on previous research studies, import variables have negative relationship with the rubber price in Malaysia to indicate this result researcher will make research whether from the previous study the researcher will get same result or vice versa. Otherwise for the result shows that crude oil petroleum, have positive relationship with volatility natural rubber price in Malaysia. The major implication of the finding is dependence on one commodity as a source of export earning is subject to risk, in another words the diversification of export crop promotion must be continued.

Removal of petroleum‐crude oil from aqueous solution by Saccharomyces cerevisiae SHSY strain necessitates at least an inducible CYP450ALK homolog gene

Petroleum crude-oil (PCO) components are known to be mutagenic or carcinogenic, and their contamination in soil and aquifer is of great environmental concern. PCO could be degraded by bacteria, fungi, and yeast. In yeast, the family CYP52 (P450ALKs) of Cytochrome P450 was described as n-alkane-degrading enzymes. In this study, we isolated a new strain SHSY of Saccharomyces able to grow on hydrocarbons compounds. Morphological and molecular characterization led to identify the isolated yeast SHSY as a Saccharomyces cerevisiae. SHSY strain had a remarkable ability to tolerate a high concentration of PCO and use it as a carbon source. A significant relationship was established between the increase in biomass (42.46 ± 1.01-fold) and the disappearance of the crude oil (72.34%) in an aqueous solution. A 690-bp amplicon corresponding to a high conserved region of known CYP450ALK genes was amplified in the genomic DNA of SHSY strain. The sequence of the amplified fragment shared a high identity (71.8%) with CYP52A3 gene of Pichia stipites. The expression of CYP52A3 homolog gene was induced and the expression of both InoP2/InoP4 transcription factor genes in SHSY was stimulated in the presence of PCO. The identified strain SHSY of S. cerevisiae presents an interesting model to minimize the mixed toxicity of PCO in polluted environmental sites.

Effect of Petroleum Crude Oil on Mineral Nutrient Elements, Soil Properties and Bacterial Biomass of the Rhizosphere of Jojoba

Aims: This study is to evaluate the effect of petroleum crude oil contaminated soil on the mineral nutrient elements, soil properties and bacterial biomass of the rhizosphere of jojoba plants (Simmodsia chinensis). Methodology: A pot experiment was carried out. The soil was treated with different levels of crude oil: 1, 2 and 3% v/w either alone or in combination with inorganic fertilizers. Results: Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration increased in jojoba leaves when grown in petroleum oil polluted soil especially at 2% and 3% crude oil. It was noted that, Na, Mg and Ca decreased while K increased in shoots of jojoba. In roots Na and Ca increased however K and Mg decreased with increasing crude oil concentration in the soil. Heavy metals, Cu, Mn, Cd and Pb increased in both shoot and root with increasing crude oil concentration while, Zn decreased comparing with the control. In soil, N and K decreased meanwhile Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn as well as organic matter increased with increasing crude Research Article British Journal of Environment & Climate Change, 3(1): 103-118, 2013 104 oil concentration. Soil was free from P while, the addition of inorganic fertilizers improved P content. Bacterial account was significantly increased at the end of the experiment at 1% and 2% crude oil especially after addition of inorganic fertilizers. The electric conductivity and MDA of the leaves increased with increasing crude oil concentration. The addition of inorganic fertilizers to crude oil contaminated soil decreased the electric conductivity and MDA comparing with crude oil only. Conclusion: The observed changes in composition of mineral elements in jojoba plants in the present study could be attributed to the cell injury and disruption in the cell membrane, heavy metal accumulation and toxic nature of the petroleum oil. Also this study has demonstrated that soil contamination with crude oil has a highly significant effect of reducing some mineral element composition of Jojoba plants.

Effect of Petroleum Crude Oil on Mineral Nutrient Elements, Soil Properties and Bacterial Biomass of the Rhizosphere of Jojoba

Effect of Petroleum Crude Oil on Mineral Nutrient Elements, Soil Properties and Bacterial Biomass of the Rhizosphere of Jojoba

Effect of crude oil petroleum hydrocarbons on protein expression of the prawn Macrobrachium borellii

Hydrocarbon pollution is a major environmental threat to ecosystems in marine and freshwater environments, but its toxicological effect on aquatic organisms remains little studied. A proteomic approach was used to analyze the effect of a freshwater oil spill on the prawn Macrobrachium borellii. To this aim, proteins were extracted from midgut gland (hepatopancreas) of male and female prawns exposed 7days to a sublethal concentration (0.6ppm) of water-soluble fraction of crude oil (WSF). Exposure to WSF induced responses at the protein expression level. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) revealed 10 protein spots that were differentially expressed by WSF exposure. Seven proteins were identified using MS/MS and de novo sequencing. Nm23 oncoprotein, arginine methyltransferase, fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase and glutathione S-transferase were down-regulated, whereas two glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase isoforms and a lipocalin-like crustacyanin (CTC) were up-regulated after WSF exposure. CTC mRNA levels were further analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR showing an increased expression after WSF exposure. The proteins identified are involved in carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, detoxification, transport of hydrophobic molecules and cellular homeostasis among others. These results provide evidence for better understanding the toxic mechanisms of hydrocarbons. Moreover, some of these differentially expressed proteins would be employed as potential novel biomarkers.

Petroleum crude oil analysis using low‐temperature plasma mass spectrometry

The analysis of crude oil is a challenging task due to sample complexity. In mass spectrometry, several ionization techniques can be used to perform this task. Herein, we report the use of an atmospheric pressure low-temperature plasma (LTP) probe to desorb and ionize compounds of petroleum crude oil from different sources and residual fuel oil standard reference materials (SRMs). LTP is used to perform rapid screening of low molecular weight and relatively volatile components enabling characterization and differentiation of crude oil samples relying solely on mass spectrometric data. Crude oil samples were analyzed without sample preparation or dilution directly from sampling surfaces of different materials such as polytetrafluorethylene, glass and polyethylene. Analyses were performed using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) with high mass accuracy and high resolving power of 400,000 at m/z 400 to estimate the elemental composition of the ions produced by LTP. Principal components analysis (PCA) was performed on the LTP data for statistical analysis. LTP was found to generate positive ions of lower mass compounds of low to moderate polarity. Three-dimensional PCA plots efficiently differentiated between SRMs and Azerbaijan crude oil samples. Standards of alkanes, nitrogen heterocycles, sulfur heterocycles, hydrocarbon polycyclic aromatics and saturated acids were investigated for their behavior in LTP ionization. Alkanes were found to form oxidized products to some extent. The LTP probe worked particularly well in the characterization of sulfur compounds. LTP ionization of crude oils was found to advantageously complement analysis by electrospray ionization. The LTP probe in combination with miniaturized mass spectrometers has the potential to provide direct composition analysis and source identification of crude oil contaminations in the future.

Effect of petroleum crude oil on mineral nutrient elements and soil properties of jojoba plant (Simmondsia chinensis)

This study evaluated the effect of petroleum crude oil contaminated soil on the mineral nutrient elements, soil properties and bacterial biomass of the rhizosphere of jojoba plant (Simmondsia chinensis). Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration increased in jojoba leaves when grown in petroleum oil polluted soil especially at 2% and 3% crude oil. It was noted that Na, Mg and Ca decreased, while K increased in shoots of jojoba. In roots Na and Ca increased, however K and Mg decreased with increasing crude oil concentration in the soil. Heavy metals, Cu, Mn, Cd and Pb increased in both shoot and root with increasing crude oil concentration, while Zn decreased comparing with the control. In soil, N and K decreased, meanwhile Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn as well as organic matter increased with increasing crude oil concentration. Soil was free from P, while the addition of inorganic fertilisers improved P content. Bacterial account was significantly increased at the end of the experiment at 1% and 2% crude oil, especially after addition of inorganic fertilisers. The electrical conductivity and MDA of the leaves increased with increasing crude oil concentration in the soil. The addition of inorganic fertilisers to crude oil contaminated soil decreased the electrical conductivity and MDA comparing with crude oil only.

A Fundamental Study of Asphaltene Deposition

Asphaltenes are a solubility class of petroleum crude oil that can destabilize and deposit in both upstream and downstream processes. In this study, asphaltene deposits were generated in metal capillaries by heptane addition to crude oils, and it was found that deposition is caused by submicrometer asphaltene aggregates. Deposits were generated at heptane concentrations above and significantly below the instantaneous onset point. Analysis of the results reveals that the governing factor controlling the magnitude of asphaltene deposition is the concentration of insoluble asphaltenes present in a crude oil-precipitant mixture and the instantaneous onset point is irrelevant to the deposition process. Electron microscopy images of the deposits represent the first images and confirmation of arterial growth in laboratory generated asphaltene deposits. The axial deposit profile was found to be highly nonuniform. In addition, deposits formed shortly after when oil and heptane mix, revealing that the destabilizati...