Peter Kilpatrick

Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of Engineering
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 631-5534; peter.kilpatrick@nd.edu

The most polar fractions of petroleum – asphaltenes, resins, and organic acids – are interfacially active and participate in a variety of supramolecular and interfacial phenomena. Among the more significant are self assembly to form molecular aggregates which can then assemble into interfacial films of high elasticity and stabilize water-in-oil emulsions. These emulsions pose one of the more serious environmental and technical challenges to the petroleum industry, particularly with the increased need to pursue heavy and unconventional petroleum resources such as tar sands and shale oil. We will overview the self assembly of asphaltenes, and describe recent results which probe the details of asphaltenic nanoscale aggregates. We will then describe the adsorption of asphaltenes to form interfacial films of high elasticity and the mechanism whereby emulsions are stabilized. Finally we will describe recent efforts to judiciously combine petroleum fluids to achieve destructive interference of two differing mechanisms of emulsion stabilization.

For further information please contact Prof. Scott Calabrese Barton, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at scb@egr.msu.edu.

Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation. Please call the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at 355-5135 at least the day prior to the seminar; requests received after this date will be met when possible.