Vol. 337 No. 9 (2026)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/9/5435
Rheological properties of high-resin oil
Relevance. The development of new methods for regulating the rheological properties of oil products from production wells using thermal, mechanical, and chemical methods will reduce oil viscosity and lower energy consumption for pumping hydrocarbon liquids. Aim. Theoretical and experimental substantiation of the mechanism of layered flow of the oil system, as well as determination of the sizes of complex structural units in samples of highly resinous oil from the Mogdinskoe and Chayandinskoe fields. Methods. Laboratory experiments to study the rheological properties of two oils were performed using a Reotest 2.1 rotational viscometer. Results. The authors have carried out the experimental studies to examine the impact of oil pumping rate and temperature on the viscosity of oil from the Mogdinskoe and Chayandinskoe fields. Rotational viscometry was used to assess the impact of shear rate and fluid temperature on dynamic viscosity. It is shown that, due to the high content of petroleum resins, oil samples from the two named fields exhibit non-Newtonian properties at temperatures below 303 K. The paper provides a rationale for the existing nanoparticle structure in the dispersed phase of the studied oils. Consequently, the presence of complex structural units in the oil system allows, in accordance with Z.I. Sunyaev's theory, classifying these samples as colloidal-dispersed systems. Using a hypothetical model of layered flow of a hydrocarbon liquid containing supramolecular associates, as well as the Arrhenius–Frenkel–Eyring analytical expression, which describes the semi-empirical dependence of viscosity on temperature and the physicochemical nature of the liquid system, the authors obtained theoretically a formula for calculating the complex structural unit sizes. The conducted viscosimetric measurements provided experimental confirmation of the dependence of the diameters of complex structural unit particles on the intensity of mechanical action and the temperature of the oil system.
For citation: Chekantseva L.V., Manzhay V.N. Rheological properties of high-resin oil. Bulletin of the Tomsk Polytechnic University. Geo Assets Engineering, 2026, vol. 337, no. 9, pp. 35–43. http://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/9/5435
Keywords:
oil, viscosity, viscometer, asphaltenes, resins, paraffins, dispersion, temperature
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