The deposition of paraffins was studied in a laboratory simulation of the subsea operational conditions, where the oil pipelines laying on the seabed are subjected to low temperatures. An experimental apparatus was built for a pipe-flow model submerged in a chilling bath of near frozen water. Streamwise pressure and temperature gradients were measured to evaluate the differences in the behavior of paraffin deposition between one-phase oil flow and two-phase oil-water flow. Most works on the behavior of paraffin deposition consider one liquid phase only, while two phases – oil and water – are considered here. Measurements in two-phase oil-water flows show a reduction of the head loss compared to one-phase oil flows, when both are subjected to paraffin precipitation, and photographs show that the layer of paraffin deposits on the pipe wall was significantly reduced in the presence of water.

Keywords:
wax remediation, scale remediation, wax inhibition, paraffin remediation, production monitoring, production logging, production control, Reservoir Surveillance, oilfield chemistry, asphaltene remediation
Subjects:
Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring, Pipelines, Flowlines and Risers, Reservoir Fluid Dynamics, Production logging, Offshore pipelines
Copyright 2007, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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