Article
Determination of Asphaltene and Resin Content in VenezuelanCrude Oils by Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares Regression
Registro en:
10.1021/ef0501243
Autor
Riveros, Liseth
Jaimes, Blanca
Ranaudo, María Antonieta
Castillo, Jimmy
Chirinos, José
Institución
Resumen
The predictive ability of partial least squares regression (PLSR) as calibration technique in fluorescence
spectroscopy with regard to asphaltene and resin content was explored in some medium and heavy Venezuelan
crude oils. These samples dissolved in toluene exhibited significant fluorescence signal at very low concentrations
due to fluorophores associated with asphaltenes and resins. Additionally, crude oils spectra presented small
shifts in the maximum peak position and small differences in the full width at half-maximum. This fact made
the simple linear calibration technique meaningless for quantification purposes. Accordingly, multivariate
calibration was applied to establish the relationship between the nonselective fluorescence spectra and the
hydrocarbon content. Results confirmed that fluorescence spectroscopy with PLSR is a very promising method
to predict the asphaltene and resin content of the crude oil in a fast and reliable way. Prediction results are
comparable to those obtained by very cumbersome methods such as traditional SARA fractionation procedure.