Process for predicting the stability of crude oil and employing same in transporting and/or refining the crude oil

1. A method for controlling a process for refining crude oil to mitigate asphaltene fouling comprising:

deploying a refractive index probe at a location suitable for making a crude oil stability determination, wherein the location is selected from the group consisting of: into a feed going into a desalting unit, into a heat exchanger, into a pre-heater, and combinations thereof;

making a measurement of crude oil stability by a process comprising:

a first part of measuring RI parameters online using the refractive index probe; and

a second part of the process of converting the RI parameters into a “solubility blending number” (SB n ) based on a linear correlation; and

then controlling the process for refining crude oil using the SB n by maintaining the process or implementing a change to the process, based upon the determination of crude oil stability, wherein the controlling is changing a unit residence time.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the linear correlation is established using the New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center method designated as PRRC 01-18.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising periodically determining the accuracy of the SB n determination using a turbidimetric flocculation titration method as a check on accuracy.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising making an Asphaltene Stability Index determination for crude oil at or near the point of the refractive index probe location.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising correlating the SB n determined using the refractive index probe with the ASI determination and using the correlated SB n in controlling the process.

6. A method of transporting or storing crude oil to mitigate asphaltene fouling comprising:

deploying a refractive index probe in a crude oil transportation or storage system;

making a measurement of crude oil stability by a process comprising a first part and a second part; wherein:

the first part of the process is measuring RI parameters online using a refractive index probe;

the second part of the process is converting the RI parameters into a “solubility blending number” (SBn) based on a linear correlation;

the linear correlation is established using the New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center method designated as PRRC 01-18; and

then controlling the process for transporting or storing the crude oil by maintaining the process or implementing a change to the process, based upon the determination of crude oil stability, wherein the controlling is changing a unit residence time.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising periodically determining the accuracy of the SB n determination using a turbidimetric flocculation titration method as a check on accuracy.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising making an Asphaltene Stability Index determination for crude oil at or near the point of the refractive index probe location.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising correlating SB n determined using the refractive index probe with the ASI determination.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising using the correlated SB n to control the process to improve crude oil stability.

11. A method of monitoring the blending of two or more crude oil streams to form a combined feed stream to identify the stability of the two or more crude oil feed streams and to avoid asphaltene fouling by the combined feed stream comprising:

employing a refractive index probe to measure at least the stability of the combined streams;

wherein the measuring at least the stability is performed by a process comprising a first part and a second part;

the first part of the process is measuring RI parameters online using a refractive index probe;

the second part of the process is converting the RI parameters into a “solubility blending number” (SBn) based on a linear correlation; and the linear correlation is established using the New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center method designated as PRRC 01-18;

wherein the location of the refractive index probe is selected from the group consisting of: into a feed going into a desalting unit, into a heat exchanger, into a pre-heater, and combinations thereof;

further comprising avoiding inducing asphaltene fouling using the SBn by implementing a change to the blending, based upon the determination of crude oil stability, by changing a unit residence time.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising

periodically determining the accuracy of the SBn determination using a turbidimetric flocculation titration method as a check on accuracy;

making an Asphaltene Stability Index determination for crude oil at or near the point of the refractive index probe location; and

correlating SBn determined using the refractive index probe with the ASI determination;

using the correlated SBn to adjusting the order of blending of feed streams to improve crude oil stability of a combined feed stream.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the two or more crude oil streams are a heavy crude oil stream and a shale oil stream.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising monitoring the Asphaltene Stability Index using only the RI data.