Comparing the Coalescence Rate of Water-in-Oil Emulsions Stabilized with Asphaltenes and Asphaltene-like Molecules

Asphaltenes are a significant contributor to flow assurance problems related to crude oil production. Because of their polydispersity, model molecules such as coronene and violanthrone-79 (VO-79) have been used as mimics to represent the physiochemical properties of asphaltenes. This work aims to evaluate the emulsion-stabilization characteristics of fractionated asphaltenes and these two model molecules. Such evaluation is expected to better...