We critically review two classic, molecular-based solution theories, the regular solution theory and the Flory-Huggins theory, in the context of revealing their limited applicability to liquid mixtures containing asphaltenes, a significant fraction of crude oil. Asphaltene molecular structures, either as depicted by the Archipelago model or the island model, are non-linear (not chain-like) and rigid, making the application of the aforementioned theories to describe their phase behaviour problematic. In addition, since asphaltenes contain chemical moieties that are able to interact through directional dependent specific intermolecular interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonds), this renders the incorporation of Hildebrand solubility parameters into the theories inappropriate. As a result, the two theories do not always predict the onset and amount of asphaltene precipitation correctly for crude oil under different conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure, chemical composition of crude oil, solvent concentration). It is the hope of this author that researchers in the field channel their efforts into developing a brand-new solution theory for asphaltene liquid mixtures by taking the key molecular attributes of asphaltenes into account.

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正则溶液和弗洛里-哈金斯理论对沥青质液体混合物的适用性

我们批判性地回顾了两种经典的基于分子的溶液理论，即常规溶液理论和 Flory-Huggins 理论，揭示它们对含有沥青质（原油的重要部分）的液体混合物的有限适用性。Archipelago 模型或岛模型所描述的沥青质分子结构是非线性（非链状）和刚性的，这使得应用上述理论来描述它们的相行为存在问题。此外，由于沥青质含有能够通过方向相关的特定分子间相互作用（例如氢键）相互作用的化学部分，这使得将 Hildebrand 溶解度参数纳入理论是不合适的。因此，这两种理论并不总是能正确预测原油在不同条件下（如温度、压力、原油的化学成分、溶剂浓度）下沥青质沉淀的开始和数量。作者希望该领域的研究人员能够通过考虑沥青质的关键分子属性，将他们的精力投入到开发一种全新的沥青质液体混合物溶液理论。