Experiments reveal that aging reduces wax deposit removability significantly in crude oil pipelines, indicating implications for flow assurance strategies.
During crude oil production, the drop in temperature and pressure from the reservoir to the surface leads to wax deposition in pipelines. While previous studies have focused on qualifying the shear mechanism, this study quantifies the effects of deposit aging and shear stripping on wax composition. Experiments were conducted using a semi-industrial flow loop, controlled via LabVIEW. The deposits were formed under Re of 3,000 and 5,000, aging durations of 48, 72, and 96 h. Results showed a deposit mass reduction of over 70% after sequential 180 s shear stripping steps at each of the eight tested Reynolds numbers, ranging from 3,000 to 80,000, using a pure solvent. The changes generated by aging significantly reduced deposit removability after 72 h, especially at Re = 5,000. These findings advance the understanding of wax deposition and consolidation, informing time-sensitive flow assurance strategies in offshore and onshore environments.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Silva et al. (2025) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: