Thursday, June 25, 2026, 11:30 AM - 01:00 PM CT
Physicochemical Characterization of Asphaltenes Using Microfluidic Porous Media
Prof. S. Lisa Biswal
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CHBE)
Rice University, Houston, TX
Abstract:
Asphaltenes constitute the heaviest, most polar, and most chemically complex fraction of crude oil. Often referred to as the “cholesterol of petroleum,” they can aggregate, precipitate, and deposit under changes in pressure, temperature, composition, or flow conditions, leading to severe clogging challenges in wellbores, near-wellbore regions, pipelines, and production facilities. Despite their industrial importance, the pore-scale mechanisms governing asphaltene aggregation, deposition, and remediation remain difficult to resolve using conventional bulk characterization methods.
Microfluidic porous media provide a powerful platform for investigating these processes under well-controlled, optically accessible, and dynamically flowing conditions. By mimicking key features of reservoir rock geometries, microfluidic devices enable direct visualization of asphaltene transport, deposition, and interactions with oil, water, mineral surfaces, and chemical additives at the pore scale. When combined with complementary physicochemical characterization methods, these platforms provide new insight into the coupled effects of fluid composition, interfacial properties, wettability, confinement, and flow on asphaltene behavior.
In this presentation, I will describe how microfluidic porous media can be used to obtain new physical, chemical, and dynamic information on asphaltene aggregation and deposition. I will highlight examples in which in situ imaging and microscale analysis reveal mechanisms of asphaltene accumulation and evaluate emerging remediation strategies. These studies demonstrate how pore-scale understanding can inform the development of more effective approaches to mitigate asphaltene-related flow assurance problems in the oil and gas industry.
Biography:
Dr. Lisa Biswal is the William M. McCardell Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.
At Rice, she leads the Soft Matter Engineering Laboratory, where her research focuses on understanding the rheological behavior of particulate and multiphase systems and connecting these macroscopic properties to the underlying physics of colloidal assemblies, surfactant-stabilized foams and emulsions, and energy-storage composites. Her research aims to generate fundamental insights that enable the design of innovative materials and processes for a broad range of challenges in energy, sustainability, and advanced materials. She is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
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Contact Information
Houston, TX, United States