Rheological properties of crude oils in Yaregskoye and Yaraktinskoye oil fields

Abstract

Rotary viscometer tests of crude oil with a high content of resins and asphaltenes (Yaregskoye oil field) and crude oil with high paraffin content (Yaraktinskoye oil field) have been conducted. The typical flow curves for these oil types have been plotted. It has been detected that these oils are non-Newtonian fluids, viscosity of which is dependent on shear rate. Based on Arrhenius-Eyring equation, calculations of viscous flow activation energy and complex structural unit (CSU) sizes have been performed. It has been stated that there is a tenfold reduction in CSU size in asphaltic crude oil with the increase in shear rate in a rotary viscometer, while particle size in paraffinic crude oil does not essentially change under the same hydrodynamic conditions.