Asphaltenes deposition may cause serious problems for crude oil production, treatment and refining. Additives that disperse or peptisize asphaltenes particles may prevent this deposition process, avoiding serious technological problems. The results presented in this paper show that the oil extracted from cashew nut shell and cardanol, one of its components, may be used as peptizing agent for asphaltenes. Furthermore, it is shown that dispersants display binding isotherms presenting typical co-operative association.
CNSL; cardanol; asphaltenes; co-operative association