Prediction of thermal conductivity for characterized oils and their fractions using an expanded fluid based model

A methodology is proposed to predict the thermal conductivity of crude oils (mainly heavy oils) and their fractions based on a distillation assay, asphaltene content, molecular weight, and specific gravity of the fluid. The oils are characterized into a set of pseudo-components and their thermal conductivity is calculated using the Expanded Fluid (EF) thermal conductivity model. The inputs of this model are: the density of the fluid, the...