Events

Speaker: Dr. Berna Hascakir, Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University

Title of Seminar: Factors Affecting Asphaltenes Stability

Abstract: Asphaltenes represent the heaviest and the most polar fraction of crude oil. Asphaltenes stability is disturbed due to the change in pressure, temperature, and crude oil composition which lead asphaltenes precipitation. In this presentation, we will discuss the impact of compositional changes on asphaltenes stability for 11 different crude oil samples. All crude oil samples used in this study due to their high viscosity and low API gravity were classified as heavy oil, extra-heavy oil, and bitumen. We will discuss important parameters in asphaltenes stability determination such as Colloidal Instability Index (CII), dielectric constants, electrical charges, asphaltenes cluster size, and asphaltenes solubility.

Biography: Berna Hascakir is an Associate Professor of petroleum engineering, a Stephen A. Holditch Faculty Fellow, and the director of the Heavy Oil, Oil Shales, Oil Sands, & Carbonate Analysis and Recovery Methods (HOCAM) research team at Texas A&M University. She pursued postdoctoral studies at Stanford University in the Energy Resources Engineering Department and worked for Schlumberger in Venezuela, UK, and Colombia as a senior Heavy Oil Reservoir Engineer. She is SPE Distinguished Member. She is the recipient of the International SPE Junior Faculty Research Grant in 2014 and the International SPE Innovative Teaching Award in 2015. She is the managing guest editor for the Thermal EOR Special Issue of the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, associate editor for the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, and she is editing and reviewing for many high quality energy journals including SPE Journal and SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering. Currently, she serves on the SPE Innovative Teaching Award Committee and on several SPE conference committees, such as SPE Heavy Oil Canada and SPE Heavy Oil Latin America. She received her B.S. degree in 2001 and M.S. degree in 2003 both from Environmental Engineering at Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir. Her B.S. and M.S. research studies involved experimental work on destabilization of colloids in water and wastewater treatment by physical, chemical, and biological means. She got her Ph.D. degree in 2008 from Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering at Middle East Technical University in Ankara. She investigated experimentally, numerically, and analytically the recovery characteristics of heavy oil and oil shale samples with electrical and electromagnetic heating methods and she completed part of her PhD at University of Alberta. During her postdoctoral studies, she studied the dynamics of in-situ combustion experimentally using X-Ray computerized tomography, and numerically analyzed relative permeability changes with temperature for cyclic steam injection into diatom reservoirs. Her current research interests include heavy oil extraction by using thermal enhanced oil recovery methods, factors affecting kerogen conversion, the role of rock and reservoir clays on hydraulic fracturing performance, hydrocarbon phase behavior including solid phase hydrocarbons asphaltenes and wax, and environmental impact of oil extraction from unconventional reserves. She has authored and co-authored more than 120 technical papers and she has a patent on the determination of asphaltenes stability to inhibit asphaltenes precipitation. Her complete resume can be found at www.hascakir.com.