5/7/2012

PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

Paraffin

Natural Oil Production GasEngineering

PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

Agenda

Paraffin Problemsparaffincauses Whatispourpoint? Testing Paraffincontrol Inhibitors

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ParaffinWax

Paraffin wax (orsimply"paraffin")ismostly foundincrudeoilasawhite,odorless,tasteless, waxysolid,withatypicalmeltingpointbetween about46and68C(115 and154 F), andhaving adensityofaround0.9g/cm3. Itisinsolublein water,butsolublein ether, benzene,and certain esters.Paraffinisunaffectedbymost commonchemical reagents but burns readily.

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ParaffinProblems

Startstoprecipitateatthewaxappearance temperature(WAT) Paraffincrystalsnucleate,thengrow Mayaccumulateonpipelinewallsasscale Depositioncancauseplugging Highwaxcontentcrudeshavepourpoint Belowpourpointcrudeisunpumpable

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ParaffinProblems

Waxdeposition(paraffinscale)
Graduallyincreasingpressure

Flowproblemsduetodramaticviscosity increasesorcompletegellingcausedbythe formationofbranchedwaxcrystalnetworksin thecrudeoil

OilProduction

PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ParaffinProblems

Paraffinandasphaltene scaleinapipelines,formedabovethepourpoint
http://www.bakerhughes.com/productsandservices/production/upstreamchemicals/flow assuranceservices/asphalteneparaffincontrolppds

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ParaffinProblems

Paraffinplugbeingpiggedfromaline, crudeisbelowthepourpoint
OilProduction

PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

Example

http://www.offshoremag.com/articles/print/volume58/issue10/news/production/casestudyofasuccessful waxdiagnosisandintervention.html

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

OilProduction

PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

WhatisPourPoint?

The pourpoint ofa liquidis thelowest temperature at whichitbecomessemisolid andlosesceasestoflow In crudeoil ahighpour pointisgenerallyassociated withahigh paraffin content Asphaltenes maycontribute toalesserdegree
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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

PourPointTesting Manual

Thespecimeniscooledinabathtoallowthe formationofparaffin wax crystals Atabout9Cabovetheexpectedpourpoint,and foreverysubsequent3C,thetestjarisremoved andtiltedtocheckforsurfacemovement Whenthespecimendoesnotflowwhentilted,the jarisheldhorizontallyfor5sec.Ifitdoesnotflow, 3Cisaddedtothecorrespondingtemperature andtheresultisthepourpointtemperature.

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

PourPointTesting Manual

Coolingsampleinbath

Samplebelowthepourpoint
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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

PourPointTester

Automated manualmethod

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

PourPointTesting Automatic

ASTMD5949 Testsampleisheatedandthencooledbya Peltier deviceatarateof1.5+/ 0.1C/min Ateither1Cor3Cintervals,apressurizedpulse ofcompressedgasisimpartedontothesurface ofthesample Multipleopticaldetectorscontinuouslymonitor thesampleformovement Thelowesttemperatureatwhichmovementis detectedonthesamplesurfaceisdeterminedto bethepourpoint
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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

PourPointTester

PortablePour PointTesterPPT 45150byPSL Systemtechnik

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

TestingforParaffinScale

Paraffindepositsonacoldfingerinabathofcrudeoil Excellentmethodtoevaluateinhibitors!

Natural Oil Production GasEngineering

5/7/2012

PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ColdfingerTesting

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

TestingforParaffinScale

Left,paraffindepositsonacoldfingerimmersedinuntreatedcrude Right,nodepositsformonacoldfingerininhibitedcrude

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ParaffinControl

Streamheating
Expensive Suitableforsurfacerunswherewasteheator inexpensivefuelisavailable

Blending
Addhighgravity,lowwaxcrude Usuallyonlyviableinsurfacefacilities

Mechanical
Atlowdepositionratesperiodicallypigorscrape Mostcommonmethodforunderseapipelines

Inhibition
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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

ParaffinInhibitors

Inhibitorsandpourpointdepressants(PPDs)are designedtointerferewithwaxcrystallization Partoftheinhibitormoleculeislikeaparaffin waxcrystals

Providesnucleationsitesandcocrystallizeswiththe wax

Otherpartofinhibitorisdissimilartothewax crystalsandblockswaxmatrixgrowth

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

InhibitorEffects

http://www.anticorchimie.com/org/ppd.html
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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

InhibitorEffects

http://www.anticorchimie.com/org/ppd.html
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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

InhibitorEffects

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

InhibitorEffects

Youcanoverdose withsome inhibitors! Inhibitorscanact asemulsifiers!

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

Injection

Heatedinjectionmay bemoreeffective
Reducesviscosity

Inhibitormaybe dilutedinsolvent
Reducesviscosity Solventsalsobecome viscousatcold temperatures
OilProduction

PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

Summary

Whatisparaffin? Whatarethetwoformsparaffinproblems? Whatispourpoint? Whatisacoldfingertest,andwhatisitusedfor? Whatisthemostcommonmethodtocontrol paraffininsubseapipelines WhatisaPPD? Howdoparaffininhibitorswork? WhatistheWAT? Trueorfalse moreinhibitorwillalwayswork better.

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PhilipW.Johnson,P.E.,Ph.D. PetroleumTraining

References

DavidW.JenningsandJustinBreitigam, ParaffinInhibitorFormulationsforDifferent ApplicationEnvironments:FromHeated InjectionintheDeserttoExtremeColdArctic Temperatures,EnergyFuels, 2010, 24 (4),pp 23372349

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