population balance modeling of asphaltene aggregation; a fractal dimension sensitivity analysis

The present study employed a population balance model to predict particle size distribution changes over time in a dead light crude oil. the developed model was validated using a set of particle size distribution data at different temperatures and the modeling results clarified the effect of temperature on the kinetic parameters. since the system was under static conditions, only the brownian aggregation kernel of smoluchowski was incorporated into the model and collision efficiency was adjusted for different temperatures and fractal dimensions. a sensitivity analysis was performed for different fractal dimensions reported in the literature. the results revealed a rising trend for collision efficiency with temperature. additionally, the adjusted values for collision efficiency were strongly dependent on fractal dimension while a reverse trend was found between collision efficiency and fractal dimension. the more the temperature was, the more the results were affected by changing the inserted fractal dimension. the modeling results created an average root-mean-square-error (rmse) of 9.6%. despite the collision efficiency dependence on the fractal dimension, the predicted particle sizes were less sensitive to the applied value of the fractal dimension.