Investigation of the Effect of Insulation on Wax Deposition in an Iranian Crude Oil Pipeline with OLGA Simulator

Transportation of waxy crude oil in a cold environment can result in wax depositions, which are solid deposits, on the pipe wall. The formation of paraffin in the bulk of the petroleum is a crystallization process. Deposition in Bangestan crude oil pipelines can cause reduction in flow area and thus decrease in the crude oil feed of Ahvaz-3 production unit. Several techniques have been used to minimize the wax deposition in crude oil flowed through the pipelines, howeverthermal insulation of pipelines is considered as an efficient method. The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of insulation thickness on wax deposition for Bangestan crude oil pipeline of Ahvaz-3 production unit with the OLGA simulator. The results of simulation show that the maximum reduction in wax deposition was obtained by using 3.4 inch of insulation polypropylene.