Measurement and Modeling of Wax Deposition in Crude Oil Pipelines

Abstract

One of the problems faced by the petroleum industry is the wax deposition in pipelines during transportation of waxy crude oil. A comprehensive mathematical model for quantitative prediction of wax deposition for a multicomponent hydrocarbons mixture (oil) was developed. Deposition as a function of time was obtained as a solution of differential equations derived from the principles of mass and energy conservation, considering the thermodynamic of phase transition. Experiments were conducted using a mixture of toluene and an oil wax cut, in a laboratory flow loop. Model results on total mass of wax deposition showed conformity with experimental results in the laminar flow regime. These comparisons verified that molecular diffusion is the dominant mechanism during laminar flow.