Investigating the Diffusivity and Swelling in Propane-Heavy Oil System Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The objective of this study is to present an experimental technique and a corresponding mathematical model to determine the diffusivity of a gaseous solvent in heavy oil. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is employed to obtain the concentration profiles and a moving mesh technique is used to model the diffusion and swelling process. The volume change due to gas dissolution is included in the model and is tracked by a moving interface and the Vignes equation is used to represent the concentration-dependency of diffusivity. The concentration profiles, swelling rate, concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient, infinite dilution diffusivities, gas solubility at different pressures, and the mixture density are all obtained from the proposed experimental and numerical methodology.

Source: Chemical Engineering Research and Design - December 9, 2018 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research