Title: Design of novel chemical solvent for treatment of waxy crude

Authors: Shirsendu Banerjee; Sunil Kumar; Ajay Mandal; Tarun Kumar Naiya

Addresses: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India ' Department of Petroleum Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India ' Department of Petroleum Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India ' Department of Petroleum Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826004, India

Abstract: Deposited wax in pipelines and well bores are not easily recoverable due to its solidification over time. This is responsible for losses in production. In this paper, chemical solvent derived from laboratory was used to recover the solidified wax. Twelve chemical solvents and three commercial dispersants were mixed in different volumetric proportions to study their solubility effect on waxy crude oil. Optimised solvent mixture capable of dissolving wax material was used on a laboratory prototype experiment to measure the recovery of deposited wax at different temperatures (pour point of crude oil to 90°C). Optimum composition of solvent was based on its toxicity, flammability, availability and other contributing factors like cost and recoverability. The formulated solvent dissolved about 72% and 83% wax after three hours and six hours of soaking time respectively at 25°C. Results implied that formulated solvent have immense potential to recover solidified wax in wellbores and in pipelines. [Received: January 10, 2016; Accepted: March 13, 2016]

Keywords: deposited wax; asphaltenes; chemical solvents; dispersants; solubility; FTIR analysis; rheology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.084831

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.15 No.4, pp.363 - 379

Received: 22 Jan 2016
Accepted: 13 Mar 2016
Published online: 30 Jun 2017 *

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