My research focused on how FRACTAL theory can be applied to certain processes that are of interest to Chemical Engineers. Specifically, I have been writing programs that model the FRACTAL aggregation of particles in processes which involve crude oil aggregation. There is a complicated sequence of events which control the aggregation of asphaltene in crude oil. The aggregation stops when resins already present in the crude oil mixture encapsulate the current aggregate. However, this resin/asphaltene interaction is controlled by other factors, such as aromaticity. All of these various factors are incorporated into the program which works to model this growth phenomena.
The program starts by displaying a cross section of a pipe and the current concentrations of various particles in the solution before any aggregation has begun. Next, the program allows the user to set various initial conditions and watch the particles in the solution slowly aggregate and disappear from the cross section. By varying the initial conditions and other constraints, the user can better understand and witness the microscopic dynamics of asphaltene aggregation as it occurs. The main results from this experimentation were that the actual structure of aggregates did indeed resemble FRACTALS and that the growth process could be modeled by a relatively simple recursive algorithm. The application of FRACTALS to crude oil aggregation is fairly new and has created a huge amount of interest. There is also great potential for further research in this area to aid in finding practical solutions to current oil pipeline clogging problems.