Asphaltenes are generally defined by their solubility when a light alkane, such as n-heptane or n-pentane, is mixed with crude oils or oil sand bitumen. However, this definition is nowadays not enough to understand their behaviors during oil recovery, transport, storage, and even refinery operation. Interestingly, the researches regarding asphaltenes have been vastly presented within last decade. This is because the production of heavy oils is becoming larger and asphaltenes are known to play an important role in the property changes of heavy oils. In this paper, the researches regarding molecular weight, aggregation behavior of asphaltenes are introduced and discussed. It is expected that analytical studies will be appeared continuously in the form of global collaboration in order to describe asphaltene molecules as close as possible based on their origin.

• 오경석(인하공업전문대학 화공환경과) | Kyeong-Seok Oh Corresponding author