Asphaltene Solubility and Thermodynamic Models: A Bibliometric Analysis with Emphasis on the UNIFAC Model

Abstract

Asphaltene precipitation is one of the major operational challenges in the oil and gas industry, as it can lead to pipeline blockage, the formation of organic deposits and increased production costs. Despite advances in thermodynamics modeling, no bibliometric studies were found that systematically map the evolution of predictive models, their scientific impact, collaboration networks and emerging research treands, particularly those involving the UNIFAC model. Therefore, this study conducted a bibliometric analysis of the scientic literature on asphaltene solubility and thermodynamic models published between 2016 and 2026. A systematic search was performed in the Scopus database, resulting in a dataset of 238 articles. The metadata were processed using Bibliometrix package in R programming language and complemented by graphical analyses performed in Python. The analysis included productivity indicators, scientific impact, collaboration networks, keyword co-occurrence and thematic evolution. The results revealed a continuous growth in scientific output, a predominance of journals specializing in energy and chemical engineering, a limited number of studies involving the UNIFAC model, and limited integration between thermodynamic modeling and machine learning techniques. It is concluded that hybrid approaches combining thermodynamic principles with data-driven methods represent a promising dirextion for future research.