The Nigerian economy has relied heavily on crude oil production since independence in 1960. As a consequence, it has seen an influx of multinational petroleum companies with oil exploration and associated activities having significant environmental impacts, particularly oil leakage and spillage into soil and the overall degradation of the ecosystem in the Niger Delta area. This study aims to find a viable solution to the remediation of polluted soil by comparing two thermal remediation techniques, namely microwave pyrolysis and traditional pyrolysis, which has been investigated using a Gray-King retort. The polluted soil was first examined to ascertain the distribution of the soil organic carbon (SOC) with 78% found to be solvent extractable in dichloromethane/methanol, while 95 % was thermally labile and removed under hydropyrolysis (HyPy) conditions at 550 °C. The remaining 5 % of the SOC was composed of a recalcitrant residue being defined as the black or stable polyaromatic carbon fraction. The solvent extractable organic matter (EOM) was then further separated into the maltene (free phase) and asphaltene (bound phase) fractions together for comparison with a sample of Nigerian crude oil provided by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria. The Nigerian crude oil is a light crude oil with the percentage of maltene (95.2 %) was far higher than the asphaltene (4.8 %). A closer margin was observed in the percentage between the maltene (88.3 %) and asphaltene (11.7 %) in the soil EOM due to biodegradation. The biomarker profile of the EOM was compared with that of a Nigerian crude oil to confirm that the EOM contains the crude oil in the soil. Their biomarker profiles revealed that the source inputs were terrigenous from deltaic settings, of Late Upper Cretaceous age and deposited under oxic conditions. Oleanane (a pentacyclic triterpene, abundant in oils from the Niger Delta) was present in both the crude oil and EOM and the hopane and the sterane distributions (m/z 191 and m/z 217 respectively) were similar in every respect, which indicates that the probable source of the pollutant crude oil in the soil is similar in composition to the Nigerian crude oil. Accordingly, the polluted soil was treated with microwave pyrolysis and Gray-King pyrolysis to remove the crude oil pollutant. The maximum average recovered products from the thermal remediation process with Gray-King pyrolysis is 99.4 % TOC and maximum crude oil pollutant removed by Gray-King pyrolysis was 85.3 % TOC with maximum oil recovery of 70 % TOC from all the different treatment conditions, while the shortest treatment time condition gave the lowest gas yield of 10.2 % TOC. This implies that 100 % removal with respect to EOM and 89 % removal with respect to HyPy as discussed above. Furthermore, the polluted soil was also treated with microwave pyrolysis with maximum pollutant removal of 77 % TOC, which is 98.7 % removal with respect to EOM and 81 % with respect to HyPy. In conclusion, Gray-King pyrolysis removed more of the soil organic carbon than microwave pyrolysis, but the latter does have advantages regarding operability and greater output within a short treatment time.

Energy based on non-renewable resources such as gas, oil, coal and nuclear fission, even with their serious problems of pollution, contributes to 86% of the global energy consumption. Oil will remain the dominant transport fuel: about 87% of transport fuel in 2030 will still be petroleum-based. Discoveries of conventional sources of light easy-to-access crude oil are becoming less common and current oil production levels are struggling to match demand, it is necessary to develop new non-conventional sources of oil in order to supplement conventional oil supply, whose demand is increasing continuously. A possible clue to solve this situation could be to take advantage of the extensive reserves of heavy crude oils existing in different places around the world, which could be an excellent source of more valuable hydrocarbons. In this context, some facilities called upgraders are used to process theses heavy crude oils to both increase the hydrogen-carbon ratio and improve their quality, reducing their density and decreasing their viscosity, sulphur, nitrogen and metals. The main objective in this work is to study the heavy crude oil upgrading processes in order to identify new operation schemes which explore different opportunities of integration between the upgraders and other processes or new schemes for upgraders that can sustain on its own through the production of a wide range of products. Each design alternative has been modelled with state-of-the-art commercial software packages. The crude oil dilution process was evaluated using naphtha and a light crude oil as diluents. Sensitivity analyses were done with the purpose of selecting the type and flow rate of diluent. Once the best diluent was selected, the integration of an upgrader to a refinery was studied. Heavy ends from both the upgrader and the refinery were taken as feedstocks to an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC). The best operation schemes for IGCC, in order to achieve the requirements of power and hydrogen for the upgrader and the refinery was determined. Different schemes for heavy crude oil processing to produce transportation fuel instead of syncrude were proposed, too. Finally, economic evaluation of all the schemes was performed to find the best solution for heavy crude oils. The best results for the dilution process of heavy crude oils were obtained when naphtha was used as diluent. The configuration proposed for the upgrader allows producing a synthetic crude oil with 35.5 °API. The integration of the upgrader to a refinery allows the treatment of the heavy streams of the refinery and transforms them into products of higher qualities. The integration of the IGCC to the upgrader and the refinery permits a complete elimination of the heavy residues produced in these units and produces hydrogen and power to be used in the site or to export. Economic evaluation shows that all the proposed processing schemes studied are economically attractive. The proposed processing schemes chosen include the integration between upgrader refinery and IGCC unit with CCS.

In global energy and industrial market, petroleum refining industry accounts for a major share. Through proper planning and the use of adequate mathematical models for the different processing units, many profit improving opportunities can be realized. The increasing crude oil price has also made refining of crude oil blends to be a common practice. This thesis aims to provide useful insight for planning of the integrated refinery subsystems. The main subsystems referred to are (1) The crude oil unloading subsystem (2) The production and product blending subsystem and (3) The product distribution subsystem. Aspen HYSYS® was first used to develop a rigorous model for crude distillation unit (CDU) and vacuum distillation unit (VDU). The rigorous model was validated with pilot plant data from literature. The information obtained from the rigorous model is further used to develop a model for planning of the CDU and VDU. This was combined with models (obtained from empirical correlations) for fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) and hydrotreater (HDT) units to form a mathematical programming planning model used for refinery production and product blending subsystem planning. Since two different types of crude were considered, the optimum volumetric mixing ratio, the sulphur content at that mixing ratio and the CDU flow rate were determined. The yields fraction obtained from the rigorous model were then used to generate regression model using least square method. The sulphur composition of the crude oil was used as independent variable in the regression model. The generated regression models were then used to replace the regular fixed yield approach in a refinery planning model and the results compared. From the results obtained, the proposed method provided an alternative and convenient means for estimating yields from CDU and VDU than the regular fixed yield approach. The proposed aggregate model for the production and products blending subsystem was integrated with the modified scheduling model for the crude unloading subsystem developed by Lee et al. (1996) and products distribution model developed by Alabi and Castro (2009) for refinery planning. It was found that the regression model could be integrated in a refinery planning model and that the CDU flow rate was maximised as compared to the non- integrated system.

The efficacy of using zeolitic materials for the removal of nickel (II) and vanadium (IV) ions from solution has been evaluated in order to provide a method for the removal of the metal ions during hydroprocessing of crude oil. Batches of sodium based zeolites with a variety of pore sizes and Si/Al ratios were prepared using standard methods (high causticity solutions and templating agent). Characterisation of the products was carried out using powder X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis to confirm the presence of single zeolitic phases (zeolite A, zeolite X, zeolite Y, sodalite Na8 [AlSiO4]6Cl2 and hydrosodalite Na6 [AlSiO4]6. 6H2O). In a batch exchange process, divalent nickel and tetravalent vanadium ion solutions of concentration range 0.01M - 0.1M were placed in contact with the zeolite samples at 110°C for a period of 24h. Nickel (II) exchange was found to occur for all the zeolites at concentrations considered. Zeolite X was found to be most efficient at removing nickel from the solutions while zeolite Y was least efficient. Characterisation of zeolite X after ion exchange using powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy showed that the structure of the zeolite had been maintained. Simplistic modelling of powder X-ray diffraction data have shown that the nickel ions are preferentially substituted on one of the four sodium sites. Vanadium (IV) exchange was also found to occur for all the zeolites at the concentrations considered. Zeolite A was found to be most efficient for the vanadium uptake. Characterisation with PXRD, FTIR and SEM-EDS however, shows that in addition to exchange at the zeolite s normal cation exchange sites, a significant amount of framework silicon species were also exchanged by the vanadium ions thus having a destructive effect on the zeolite framework leading to structural collapse. Ion exchange of the sodium-based zeolites with potassium and lithium showed that the uptake of nickel and vanadium of the zeolites significantly increased compared to the as- synthesised zeolites. Zeolite Y was surface-modified with the APTES ligand and showed a similar trend to that observed for alkali metal-zeolites; showing significantly greater nickel uptake at lower concentrations. Nickel-tetraphenylporphrin was synthesised as a mimic for the nickel-asphaltenes found in crude oil and an α-hydrogen donor solvent used to remove the nickel in the presence of zeolite ion exchangers. A similar trend was observed to that seen in aqueous solution, implying the process would be transferrable to a live medium. Analysis to determine the metal ions present in ashed Nigerian crude samples before and after solvent and/or complexing agent extraction was carried out using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICPMS) and energy fluorescence analysis by X-rays (XRF). The process showed varying amounts of nickel was extracted by the different media along with iron. For nickel, the extent of extraction in the order of increasing % extraction is H2O<H3PO4<EDTA<IPA. For iron the order of increasing % extraction was H2O=EDTA<H3PO4<CH3OH while zinc extraction was in the order H2O<H3PO4 <CH3OH=EDTA.

Offshore oil and gas exploitation is principally conducted using dry or wet tree systems, otherwise called the subsea Xmas tree system. Due to the shift to deeper waters, subsea production system (SPS) has come to be a preferred technology with attendant economic benefits. At the centre of the SPS is the subsea control module (SCM), responsible for the proper functioning and monitoring of the entire system. With increasing search for hydrocarbons in deep and ultra-deepwaters, the SCM system faces important environmental, safety and reliability challenges and little research has been done in this area. Analysis of the SCM reliability then becomes very fundamental due to the huge cost associated with failure. Several tools are available for this analysis, but the FMECA stands out due to its ability to not only provide failure data, but also showcase the system’s failure modes and mechanisms associated with the subsystems and components being evaluated. However, the technique has been heavily challenged in various literatures for several reasons. To close this gap, a novel multi-criteria approach is developed for the analysis and ranking of the SCM failures modes. This research specifically focusses on subsea tree-mounted electro-hydraulic (E-H) SCM responsible for the underwater control of oil and gas production. A risk identification of the subsea control module is conducted using industry experts. This is followed by a comprehensive component based FMECA analysis of the SCM conducted with the conventional RPN technique, which reveals the most critical failure modes for the SCM. A novel framework is developed using multi-criteria fuzzy TOPSIS methodology and applied to the most critical failure modes obtained from the FMECA evaluation using unconventional parameters. Finally, a validation of these results is performed using a stochastic input evaluation and SCM failure data obtained from the offshore industry standard reliability database, OREDA.

Scheduling refinery operation promises a big cut in logistics cost, maximizes efficiency, organizes allocation of material and resources, and ensures that production meets targets set by planning team. Obtaining accurate and reliable schedules for execution in refinery plants under different scenarios has been a serious challenge. This research was undertaken with the aim to develop robust methodologies and solution procedures to address refinery scheduling problems with uncertainties in process parameters. The research goal was achieved by first developing a methodology for short-term crude oil unloading and transfer, as an extension to a scheduling model reported by Lee et al. (1996). The extended model considers real life technical issues not captured in the original model and has shown to be more reliable through case studies. Uncertainties due to disruptive events and low inventory at the end of scheduling horizon were addressed. With the extended model, crude oil scheduling problem was formulated under receding horizon control framework to address demand uncertainty. This work proposed a strategy called fixed end horizon whose efficiency in terms of performance was investigated and found out to be better in comparison with an existing approach. In the main refinery production area, a novel scheduling model was developed. A large scale refinery problem was used as a case study to test the model with scheduling horizon discretized into a number of time periods of variable length. An equivalent formulation with equal interval lengths was also presented and compared with the variable length formulation. The results obtained clearly show the advantage of using variable timing. A methodology under self-optimizing control (SOC) framework was then developed to address uncertainty in problems involving mixed integer formulation. Through case study and scenarios, the approach has proven to be efficient in dealing with uncertainty in crude oil composition.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de mieux comprendre les réactions de craquage thermique des naphtènes (hydrocarbures saturés cycliques) se déroulant dans les réservoirs pétroliers. Les naphtènes, représentant une famille importante de composés dans les huiles « Haute Pression/Haute Température » des gisements profonds, ont fait l’objet de très peu d’études dans ces conditions. La pyrolyse du n-butylcyclohexane a été étudiée à haute pression (100 bar) dans des réacteurs fermés en tubes en or, entre 300°C et 425°C. Le n butylcyclohexane produit majoritairement des n-alcanes (C1 à C4), d’autres naphtènes et des composés aromatiques. Un modèle cinétique complexe a été développé (833 réactions essentiellement radicalaires) ; il rend bien compte de nos résultats expérimentaux jusque 60% de conversion. L’extrapolation du modèle dans les conditions géologiques (température initiale de 160°C, gradient thermique de 2°C/MA et temps de réaction en millions d’années), montre que ce composé commence à se décomposer vers 180°C et que son temps de demi-vie correspond à 200-210°C. D’autres systèmes réactionnels impliquant des naphtènes, ont été également étudiés à 400°C et 100 bar. L’étude de la pyrolyse de la n-butyldécaline montre que cette molécule bicylique possède une réactivité similaire à celle du n-butylcyclohexane. L’étude à 400°C du mélange binaire n-octane/n-butylcyclohexane ne met pas en évidence d’effet cinétique significatif du n-butylcyclohexane sur la décomposition thermique du n-octane, mais l’extrapolation du modèle aux conditions géologiques montre que les naphtènes inhibent la décomposition des n-alcanes à basse température (200°C) et à haute pression (100 bar) / This thesis aims at better understanding the thermal cracking reactions of naphthenes (saturated cyclic hydrocarbons), occurring in petroleum reservoirs. Naphthenes represent a significant fraction of “High Pressure/High Temperature” oils in deeply buried reservoirs; however, studies in these conditions are very limited in literature. The pyrolysis of n-butylcyclohexane is studied in a gold sealed tube reactor between 300 and 425°C, at 100 bar. n-Butylcylohexane mainly leads to n-alkanes (C1-C4), other naphthenes and aromatic compounds. A detailed model is developed (833 reactions, mainly free-radical reactions); a good agreement with our experimental results is reached up to a conversion of 60%. According to simulation results obtained by extrapolating to lower temperature, this compound starts to undergo thermal cracking at 180°C and its time of half-life corresponds to a temperature around 200-210°C, while considering the following burial scenario of an oil reservoir: initial temperature of 160°C and a heating rate of 2°C/MY (Million Years). Other chemical systems including naphthenes, are also studied at 400°C and 100 bar. The study of 1-n-butyldecaline shows, that this bicyclic compound and n-butylcyclohexane have a similar reactivity at 400°C. The study of the binary mixture n-butylcyclohexane/n-octane at 400°C does not provide any significant evidence of a kinetic effect of n-butylcyclohexane on the thermal decomposition of n-octane, but the extrapolation of our model at geological conditions shows that naphthenes are inhibitors of the decomposition of n-alkanes at low temperature (200°C) and at high pressure (100 bar)

“Introduction to the Canadian Oil Sands”, “Canada’s Oil Sand Industry: An Overview”, “Heavy Oil Technologies”, and so many other topics about heavy oil have become the hotcakes in the oil industry. A number of new projects are in Execute phase for the development of heavy oil assets. This clearly shows the increasing demand for heavy oil. An oil industry is working hard to meet the world oil demand by developing deep water, HPHT, heavy oil, shale sands and all other non-conventional reservoirs but the main challenge is to develop and operate them in a risk free environment. Understanding the reservoir and fluid properties and developing new technologies help the industry to reduce the risk in developing non-conventional fields. A major problem in heavy oil field is to understand the behaviour of heavy oil. The viscous oil flows sluggishly in the formations and hence it is difficult to transport through unconsolidated formations and is very difficult to produce by conventional methods. Viscous oil recovery entails neatly designed enhanced oil recovery processes like Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage and the success of such technologies are critically dependent on accurate knowledge of reservoir, well and fluid properties of oil under variety of pressure and temperature conditions. This research project has provided some solutions to the challenges in heavy oil field development and can help the oil industry to optimise heavy oil production. Detailed experimental understanding of PVT properties has allowed this project to contribute to the knowledge. Reservoir, well and fluid properties were studied thoroughly and demonstrated the criticality of each parameter on the efficiency of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage. An user friendly SAGD simulator is a big output of this research which allows the user to optimise the heavy oil recovery and enables to do risk assessments quickly during design phase of SAGD. A SAGD simulator is developed.

La connaissance de la composition en hydrocarbures des gisements pétroliers est un enjeu majeur afin de déterminer la faisabilité et l’intérêt de l’exploitation de leurs réservoirs. La présence des gaz acides et des composés corrosifs peut marquer la différence entre un projet d’exploitation qui sera développé et un autre qui sera considéré comme non viable. Dans ce contexte la présence de H2S joue un rôle majeur, du fait de sa toxicité et des investissements nécessaires pour séparer le H2S, ainsi que pour réduire la concentration des composés soufrés aux valeurs requises par la législation. Bien qu’il soit accepté que les concentrations élevées en H2S dans les réservoirs carbonatés de pétrole sont issues des réactions entre les hydrocarbures et les ions sulfates (SO42-) en phase aqueuse, l’influence de H2S sur le craquage des hydrocarbures et la formation des composés soufrés est peu connue. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, l’influence de H2S sur le craquage des hydrocarbures aromatiques dans les conditions des réservoirs pétroliers a été mise en évidence par l’étude de la maturation artificielle par pyrolyse confinée d’un composé modèle, le n-butylbenzène, en présence et en absence de H2S. Ainsi, le n-butylbenzène pur, et le mélange n-butylbenzène – H2S ont été pyrolysés dans les capsules en or à des températures entre 310 °C et 350 °C à pression constante de 700 bar pour des durées comprises entre 3 et 15 jours. Les résultats de la pyrolyse du n-butylbenzène pur ont permis la construction et la validation d’un modèle cinétique détaillé dont l’extrapolation aux températures et pressions géologiques (200 °C, 700 bar) montre que le temps de demi-vie moyen du n-butylbenzène est similaire à celle des alcanes. Certaines voies de formation des produits soufrés majeurs par les interactions entre le n-butylbenzène et le H2S, des thiols et des phénylthiophènes, ont été proposées faisant ressortir l’importance de la réactivité de la chaîne aliphatique sur le craquage des composés alkyl-aromatiques dans les conditions expérimentales. La comparaison entre les deux systèmes expérimentaux en présence et en absence de H2S a montré aussi l’effet accélérateur de H2S sur le craquage de n-butylbenzène, et par extrapolation, sur le craquage des composés alkyl-aromatiques à chaîne aliphatique longue dans les conditions de pyrolyse / Understanding of hydrocarbon composition in oil reservoirs is a major issue in order to assess the feasibility and the implications of further extraction of buried resources. The presence of acidic gases as well as corrosive compounds can make the difference between an extraction project that will be developed and another that will be considered as unsustainable. In this context, the presence of H2S plays a major role, due to H2S toxicity and the economic investments needed to separate it and to reduce the concentration of related sulfur compounds to permitted levels required by current legislations. Although it is known that high concentrations in carbonate oil reservoirs are produced by the reaction between hydrocarbons and sulfate ions (SO42-) in the aqueous phase, the influence of H2S on petroleum cracking and on the formation of sulfur compounds is little known. In this thesis, the influence of H2S on the cracking of aromatic hydrocarbons under oil reservoir pressure and temperature conditions was studied by confined pyrolysis artificial maturation of a model compound (n-butylbenzene) with and without presence of H2S. Thus, the pure n-butylbenzene and the n-butylbenzene-H2S mixture were pyrolyzed in the gold capsules at temperatures between 310 °C and 350 °C at a constant pressure of 700 bar for periods from 3 to 15 days. The results of pure n-butylbenzene pyrolysis allowed the construction and validation of a detailed kinetic model whose extrapolation to geological temperatures and pressures (200 °C, 700 bar) shows that the average half-life of n-butylbenzene is similar to that of alkanes. Some formation pathways of the major sulfur-containing compounds H2S (thiols and phenylthiophens) produced by interaction between n-butylbenzene have been proposed. These formation pathways highlight the control of the aliphatic chain reactions on the cracking of the alkyl-aromatic compounds at the experimental conditions of this study. Comparison of the two experimental systems in the presence and absence of H2S also exposed the accelerating effect of H2S cracking on n-butylbenzene and long-chain alkyl aliphatic compounds under pyrolysis conditions

Les asphaltènes et autres constituants lourds du pétrole, comme les résines et les alcanes de haut poids moléculaire, posent des défis importants dans tous les segments de la chaîne de production pétrolière. Parmi les nombreux problèmes, la déstabilisation et le dépôt des asphaltènes dans les opérations en amont ont fait perdre beaucoup de temps à la recherche et ne sont pas encore complètement compris. Une partie de la difficulté à saisir la véritable physique derrière de tels phénomènes est l'utilisation répandue des systèmes modèles et des molécules extraites, modifiant considérablement l'organisation fluide complexe des pétroles bruts, et donc en contournant les processus réels. À ce jour, deux extrêmes de la structure organisationnelle asphaltenes peuvent être dessinés, en tant que partie d'un agrégat, avec des attractions pi-pi simples et des chaînes d'alcane répulsion, contrôlant l'agrégation; et dans le cadre d'une structure macromoléculaire, avec une participation significative d'autres composants bruts. La dernière structure étant beaucoup plus difficile à modéliser, elle capture sa physique et est difficilement reproductible à l'aide de systèmes modèles. Un autre aspect important de la recherche des dépôts d'asphaltènes est la manière dont se produit la déstabilisation des asphaltènes. Lorsque l'on utilise des asphaltènes extraits dans des systèmes modèles, l'affirmation précédente n'a pratiquement aucune moyenne, car les nombreuses fractions d'asphaltènes ont été préalablement mélangées. Cependant, lorsqu'il s'agit de tout le pétrole brut, la voie de la déstabilisation est importante et est encore largement dépassée au sein de la communauté scientifique. Pour résumer les sujets exposés, il y a plutôt la non-spécificité de la majorité des techniques expérimentales utilisées sur la recherche de la déstabilisation et du dépôt des asphaltènes en relation avec les dépôts d'échelle des particules.Les techniques de spectroscopie, capables de balayer les paramètres physiques interfaciaux, sont de bons candidats pour améliorer les points exposés délétères. Dans la présente thèse, le résonateur à quartz connecté à un analyseur de réseau vectoriel présente le potentiel de révéler de nombreux aspects sur la déstabilisation et le dépôt des asphaltènes directement à partir de pétrole brut (huiles vivantes, recombinées ou mortes) et de systèmes modèles. L'équilibre du pétrole brut est perturbé par les changements de solubilité dans un processus continu ou en gradin imitant les processus de production. L'interprétation des paramètres de résonance des cristaux de quartz, de la fréquence et de la dissipation d'énergie, est effectuée de manière qualitative et, dans une certaine mesure, quantitative. L'étude innove dans le sens d'étendre l'utilisation du cristal de quartz pour interpréter le processus, non seulement en détectant les changements de phase, comme c'est le cas de la majorité des études précédentes. L'évaluation des produits chimiques de production est effectuée une fois que la méthodologie a fait l'objet d'une discussion approfondie. Le potentiel de l'analyse proposée est crédité par la microscopie à force atomique qui ouvre l'horizon pour plus de recherche et d'applications potentielles de la méthodologie. Parmi les applications possibles figure le développement de capteurs d'assurance de débit capables de détecter les changements de phase et d'évaluer les dépôts in situ. / Asphaltenes and other heavy petroleum constituents, like resins and high molecular weight alkanes, pose significant challenges in all segments from the petroleum production chain. Among the many problems, asphaltenes destabilization and deposition within upstream operations has rendered tons of research time and is still not completely understood. Part of the difficulty in capturing the real physics behind such phenomena is the widespread use of model systems and extracted molecules, greatly altering the complex fluid organization of crude oils, and thus bypassing real processes. To date two extremes of asphaltenes organizational structure can be drawn, as a part of an aggregate, with simple pi-pi attractions and alkane chains repulsion, controlling aggregation; and as a part of a macromolecular structure, with significant participation of other crude components. The last structure being way more difficult to model, and captures its physics and being poorly reproducible with the use of model systems. Another important aspect when researching asphaltene deposition is the way asphaltenes destabilization occurs. When using extracted asphaltenes in model systems, the former affirmation has virtually no mean, as the many asphaltenes fractions were beforehand mixed. However, when dealing with the whole crude oil, the path of destabilization matters and is still greatly bypassed within the scientific community. Summing up to the exposed topics, there is the rather non-specificity from the majority of experimental techniques used on the research of asphaltenes destabilization and deposition in relation to the depositing particles size scales.Spectroscopy techniques, capable of sweeping interfacial physical parameters are good candidates for improving the deleterious exposed points. In the present thesis quartz crystal resonator, connected to a vector network analyzer is used is shown to present the potential of revealing many aspects on asphaltene destabilization and deposition directly from crude oils (live, recombined or dead oils) as well as model systems. Crude oil equilibrium is disturbed by solubility changes in a continuous or step gradient mimicking production processes. The interpretation of the quartz crystal resonance parameters, frequency and energy dissipation, is performed in a qualitative and to some extend quantitative way. The study innovates in the sense of extending the use of the quartz crystal to interpret process, not only detecting phase changes, as it is the case of the majority of the former studies. The evaluation of production chemicals is undergone once the methodology is thoroughly discussed. The potential of the proposed analysis is credited by atomic force microscopy which opens the horizon for more research and potential applications of the methodology. Among the possible application is the development of flow assurance sensors capable of detecting phase changes and evaluate deposition in situ.