Patent ID: 8492154
Filing Date: 2013-07-23
Classification: C10G,G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of determining fouling tendency of a hydrocarbon-containing feedstock comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a liquid sample of said hydrocarbon-containing feedstock, said hydrocarbon-containing feedstock having asphaltenes that include different asphaltene fractions of different polarity; (b) precipitating at least some of said asphaltenes from said liquid sample with one or more precipitants in a chromatographic column; (c) dissolving at least two of said different asphaltene fractions from said precipitated asphaltenes during a successive dissolution protocol that uses dissolving solvents of increasing strength; (d) eluting said at least two different dissolved asphaltene fractions from said chromatographic column; (e) detecting said at least two eluted fractions with a liquid chromatography detector to generate a detector signal for each said eluted fraction; (f) using said signals to calculate a percentage of each peak area for a first amount and a second amount of dissolved asphaltenes relative to the total peak areas, wherein the peak areas are derived from the signals, to determine a parameter that relates to fouling tendency of said hydrocarbon-containing feedstock; and (g) determining said fouling tendency of said hydrocarbon-containing feedstock from said parameter.