Supervisors - Prof. James Anderson, University of Aberdeen and Dr. Zhenyu Zhang, University of Strathclyde
PhD Student - Callum McRitchie, University of Aberdeen
Status - Closed
For this project, the main application focus is pour point depressants, but it should also improve our understanding of how asphaltene stabilisers function in these complicated heterogeneous environments. The central aim is to investigate the interactions of pour point depressants and at least two (asphaltene and wax) or, preferably, more fuel components. This will involve the characterisation of individual fuel components, their combinations and the complete crude or residual fuel oil.
Although a detailed understanding of all the possible interactions is beyond the scope of a single PhD project, key first steps will include:
Characterising the surface functionalities of asphaltenes and other fuel components from a selection of crudes and residual fuel oils.
Understanding which oils can be successfully treated using existing or new additives.
The academic approach will involve the use of combined thermal desorption and decomposition measurements coupled with the use of vibrational spectroscopy to probe the nature of the external surface of the asphaltenes. We have used this approach with great success in determining the nature of soot deposits and the nature of carbonaceous residues produced during combustion of biodiesel. This will
be complemented by the approach adopted by the second supervisory group which will focus on understanding the aggregation and deposition mechanisms of asphaltenes and will employ Langmuir Trough (Interphase Behaviour), 3DDLS Nano-aggregation, quartz crystal microbalance, (viscoelastic performance), AFMCFM (Intermolecular Interactions) and molecular complexity (MD Simulations).
Studies on asphaltene aggregation will help us to better understand the problem and therefore reduce the associated production cost.
This will allow a rational approach to assessing the nature of structures required which would act as dispersants. One key outcome will be to develop new reagents which are of lower bioaccumulation potential (Lower Log POW), lower toxicity and which exhibit greater rates of biodegradation than traditional asphaltene dispersants.