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Critical review of mutual diffusion coefficient measurements for liquid solvent + bitumen/heavy oil mixtures
Author(s) -
Ghanavati Mohsen,
Hassanzadeh Hassan,
Abedi Jalal
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.22000
Subject(s) - asphalt , diffusion , solvent , opacity , measure (data warehouse) , materials science , work (physics) , petroleum engineering , process engineering , chemistry , computer science , thermodynamics , geology , organic chemistry , physics , engineering , optics , composite material , database
Information about diffusion in solvent + bitumen/heavy oil mixtures is useful for the design of solvent‐assisted recovery processes as a key parameter in reservoir simulation models. Reliable mutual diffusion coefficient measurements for these systems present significant challenges. In this article, experimental techniques for the study of diffusion in liquid solvent + bitumen/heavy oil systems are critically reviewed, and the strengths and weaknesses of each method are highlighted. Despite considerable progress in this area with the application of state‐of‐the‐art techniques, such as X‐ray computer‐assisted tomography measurements, additional work is needed to measure the composition profiles in these opaque systems more precisely and to analyse the measured concentration profiles more conveniently.