Experimental Investigation of Inhibitors Performance on Asphaltene Precipitation

Precipitation of asphaltenes in reservoirs, wells, and facilities has a severe detrimental effect on the economics of oil production because of a reduction inwell productivity and/or clogging of the production facilities. Several procedures are used to remove or prevent asphaltene precipitation, but the uses ofasphaltene inhibitors provide most practical and economical solution for deposits treatment. It is necessary to know the performance of an inhibitorbefore its application in the field. In this work performance of five non-commercial inhibitors; namely Benzoic Acid, Nonylphenol, Phenanthrene,Phthalic Acid, Salicylic Acid and one commercial inhibitor namely IR95 in the amount of precipitated asphaltene at standard condition, reservoir conditionand occurring onset shifting have been studied. Results of inhibitor tests reveal that among noncommercial inhibitors, salicylic acid with having extra hydroxyl group (-OH) on Benzoic ring has the most effect on asphaltene precipitation reduction and IR95 has the best efficiency among all inhibitors.