METTLER TOLEDO
 

Asphaltenes, Waxes, Emulsions, and Oil Suspensions: Inline Particle and Droplet Measurements in Dark Crude Oil or Drilling Fluids

16th IPDC

The 16th International Process Development Conference was held in Arosa, Switzerland from June 14-17, 2009. Twenty high quality technical papers from industry and academia users illustrated how they have implemented lab and production equipment into their labs, pilot plants and plants. Presentation topics included process chemistry and development, process safety, scale-up and production and crystallization.

Best Paper Award
The winner of the 2009 Best Paper Award was Adrian Daly from Pfizer, Ireland with his paper “Use of Online Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy for Process Understanding in API Manufacturing”. Runners-up were Stephen Rowe from Chilworth Technology Ltd, UK (Process Safety Decisions Using RC1e™, RTCal™, iC Safety™ and Criticality Classes”) and Prof. Allen Wright from University of Newcastle, UK (Safety and Other Aspects of Batch to Continuous Operation”).
Register for the Inline Particle and Droplet Measurements Webinar

Liquid, solid, and gaseous hydrocarbon pipeline flow is typically a complex multi-phase system comprised of particles and droplets including waxes, asphaltenes, gas hydrates, emulsions, inorganic particles, and bubbles. Safe, reliable, and cost effective transportation and separation processes play a critical role in petroleum R&D, drilling, and production efforts.

Multiphase pipeline flow often occurs under extreme temperature and pressure conditions making offline sampling and analysis difficult or impossible. Ensuring that a sample is representative is difficult and time consuming. Samples are often manipulated through dilution or dispersion which can alter or destroy multiphase components. Offline measurements often cannot be applied to make real-time process optimization and control decisions.