Microfluidic method for detection of fines, waxes, and asphaltenes in oil

1. A method for characterizing an oil, comprising:

i) flowing at least one first sample containing the oil through a microfluidic device that has a microfluidic filter while controlling the temperature of the first sample flowing through the microfluidic device such that the temperature of the first sample is above wax appearance temperature for the oil;

ii) in conjunction with i), using the microfluidic filter to perform microfluidic filtering operations that selectively block fines contained in the oil from passing through the microfluidic filter;

iii) in conjunction with i) and ii), measuring and analyzing pressure difference across the microfluidic filter over time as the first sample is filtered in order to detect the presence of fines in the oil;

iv) flowing at least one second sample containing the oil through the microfluidic device while controlling the temperature of the second sample flowing through the microfluidic device such that the temperature of the second sample is lower than wax appearance temperature for the oil;

v) in conjunction with iv), using the microfluidic filter to perform microfluidic filtering operations that selectively block at least one of wax that crystallizes from the oil and fines contained in the oil from passing through the microfluidic filter; and

vi) in conjunction with iv) and v), measuring and analyzing pressure difference across the microfluidic filter over time as the second sample is filtered in order to detect the presence of wax in the oil.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

in conjunction with ii) and/or v), using a microfluidic mixer that is part of the microfluidic device to perform microfluidic mixing operations that mix a solvent with oil upstream of the microfluidic filter.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the operations of iv) involve iteratively decrementing the controlled temperature by a predetermined amount.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein for a series of iterations, waxes are detected when a peak of the pressure difference measured and analyzed in vi) occurs earlier in time during each iteration as the temperature of the oil is iteratively decremented.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detection of the presence of fines in the oil is based on the pressure difference measured in iii) as a function of time.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the detection of the presence of fines in the oil is based on a slope of the measured pressure difference.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein:

when the slope of the measured pressure difference is greater than a predefined threshold, the presence of fines in the oil is detected; and

when the slope of the measured pressure difference is not greater than the predefined threshold, the presence of fines in the oil is not detected.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

vii) flowing at least one third sample containing the oil through the microfluidic device while controlling the temperature of the third sample flowing through the microfluidic device such that the temperature of the third sample is below wax appearance temperature for the oil;

viii) in conjunction with vii), using a microfluidic mixer that is part of the microfluidic device to perform microfluidic mixing operations that mix an asphaltene precipitant and/or solvent with the oil upstream of the microfluidic filter;

ix) in conjunction with vii) and viii), using the microfluidic filter of the microfluidic device to perform microfluidic filtering operations that selectively block asphaltenes that precipitate from the mixture of viii) from passing through the microfluidic filter; and

x) in conjunction with vii), viii), and ix), measuring properties of the mixture passing through the microfluidic filter in order to characterize asphaltenes in the oil.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the operations of x) involve measuring and analyzing pressure difference across the microfluidic filter over time as the mixture is filtered in order to detect the presence of asphaltenes in the oil.

10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the operations of x) involve performing optical spectroscopy on the mixture upstream of the microfluidic filter and performing optical spectroscopy on the filtered mixture downstream of the microfluidic filter, and using the results of such optical spectroscopy to quantify the concentration of asphaltenes in the oil.

11. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the microfluidic processes are performed by at least one microfluidic chip.

12. A method according to claim 11 , wherein:

the at least one microfluidic chip comprises first and second input ports that are fluidly coupled to a mixer section;

wherein the first input port is configured to supply the asphaltene precipitant and/or solvent to the mixer section for use in conjunction with the microfluidic mixing operations of viii); and

wherein the second input port is configured to supply the oil sample to the mixer section for use in conjunction with the microfluidic mixing operations of viii).

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one microfluidic chip comprises a reactor section fluidly coupled downstream from the mixer section.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the at least one microfluidic chip comprises a membrane filter section fluidly coupled downstream from the reactor section, wherein the membrane filter section includes the microfluidic filter.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the microfluidic filter has an average pore size of 200 nm or smaller.