WRI has a long history of evaluating and helping remediate problematic crudes and asphalts. Our advanced knowledge of the different types of asphaltenes and waxes and their interaction with the whole petroleum system has led to the development of many useful tools in both measuring and understanding their role in petroleum fouling and premature failure in asphalt products.
WRI’s developed techniquies include
Asphaltene Determinator - Quickly subdivides asphaltenes into different solubility classes and isolates the very polar “bad actor” asphaltenes.
Waxphaltene Determinator - Quickly subdivedes waxes into different solubility and melting points isolating the “bad actor” waxes.
Fouling Apparatus - The petroleum fouling flow through apparatus quickly and repeatably gives the fouling potential of small quantities of crude.
Because of the WD, AD, and Fouling Apparatus quick turnaround and high reproducibility, these are useful in evaluating dispersants and additives.
WRI has many additional useful tools in these evaluations including AFM, optical microscopy and DSC.