Transportation of waxy crudes

in multiphase pipelines
Hans Petter Rnningsen
Statoil
NTNU, 27.03.2006
Outline of presentation
Flowassurance
Phase behaviour
Solids precipitation
Wax deposition
Prevention and mitigation solutions
Rheology and gelling of waxy crudes
Fluid and flow assurance
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature, C
0
100
200
300
400
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

b
a
r
Bubble point
Production pathway
Hydrates (H)
Wax (W)
Asphaltenes (A)
Fluid behaviour and
control
Emulsions
Fluid flow
Wax
Scale
Corrosion
Asphaltenes
Hydrates
Phase behaviour
Concept choice : Field development
solutions
Field installations
Operations support
Multiphase flow assurance
" The ability to produce and transport multiphase fluids from reservoirs
to processing plants in economically and technically feasible way"
Operati onal guidelines
Conceptual design
Fluid and flow prediction
Prevention methods
Mitigation methods
Remediation methods
Flowlines and facilities
Reservoir and wells
PVT/fluid propereties
Asphaltenes
Scale
Sands/solids
Multiphase flow
Slugging
Hydrates
Waxes
Emulsions
Foam
Phenomena
Tasks
Production
Multiphase flow engineering
Pipeline dimension (sizing)
Pipeline pressure drop (capacity)
Undesirable phenomena
Slugging
Flow restrictions etc.
Flow
Flow
assurance
assurance
=
=
Minimization
Minimization
of
of
undesirable
undesirable
phenomena
phenomena
Fluid mechanics:
Governed by Newton
Fluid rheology:
Governed by the fluid
Flow assurance:
Governed by us!
Composition of petroleum fluids
Enormous range and variety of components with regard to boiling point, molecular
weight, polarity and carbon number
Thousands of components from methane to large polycyclic compounds with
atmospheric equivalent boiling points higher than 800C
Molecular weights range from 16 g/mole upto several thousand g/mole
Carbon numbers from 1 to at least 100 (for heavy oils probably about 200)
Fluid behaviour and
control

Heavy and waxy crudes
Typical phase envelope of a reservoir oil
-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Temperature (deg C)
0
100
200
300
400
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
Cricondenbar
Cricondenterm
Tc; Pc
Tres; Pres
Liquid
Gas
Bubble point line
Dew point line
Phase envelopes of complex mixtures
-200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Temperature (deg C)
0
100
200
300
400
500
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
98% C1
95% C1
93% C1
Texas gas cond.
N. Sea gas cond.
Near-crit. gas
cond.
N. Sea volatile oil
N. Sea black oil
N. Sea asphaltic
oil
N. Sea heavy oil
Critical points
Hydrate and wax phase boundaries
-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature (C)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
Saturation curve
Wax
Hydrate
Critical point
Res. conditions
Complex phase behaviour
Secondary solid and liquid phases
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature, C
0
100
200
300
400
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

b
a
r
Bubble point
Hydrates (H)
Wax (W)
Asphaltenes (A)
H
y
d
r
a
t
e
s
Asphaltenes + liquid
Wax
Single-phase liquid
Gas
Compact hydrate plug
Ref. Kvrner report on cold spots in Kristin X-mas tree and choke module
Wax slug in pig trap at Statfjord B
Wax porosity
Composition of wax deposit from Snorre-Statfjord pipeline
Sample no. 1 Sample no. 2
Water content (wt%) 8,88 0,03
Not purified 45,3 47,3 Wax content
(wt%)
Purified 26,8 32,8
Dry solid content (wt%) 80,7 82,0
Ignition residue /dry (wt%) 0,1 <0,02
Organic content /dry (wt%) 99,9 100
Ignition residue 950 C /dry (wt%)
0,1 <0,02

Ca. 45% wax
Ca. 55% non-wax
Wax precipitation curve
Waxy crude oil
Norne crude at 1 bar
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Temperature (C)
W
t
%

s
o
l
i
d

w
a
x
Wax deposition test with Snhvit oil-condensate
mixture: Effect of dT/dr (T)
Oil 10
o
C
Wall 4
o
C
Oil 8
o
C
Wall 4
o
C
Oil 6
o
C
Wall 4
o
C
Oil 4
o
C
Wall 4
o
C
Conclusion: Wax deposition vanishes when there is no temperature
difference between the oil and the wall (even if the oil temperature
is far below WAT.
Some
wax
Less
wax
Very little
wax
No
wax
Wax deposition profile in Kristin-Njord Y
pipeline (60% porosity, 600h simulation)
Kristin-NJ/DR Wye
- wax deposition and temperature profile after 600 h
0
0.001
0.002
0.003
0.004
0.005
0 20 40 60 80 100
Pi pel i ne l ength [km]
W
a
x

d
e
p
o
s
i
t
i
o
n

[
m
]
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

[

C
]
Wax
deposition
Fluid
temperature
Wax (or other deposits) may give severe increase
of pressure drop due to increased roughness
Effect of roughness on pressure drop in turbulent single
phase flow
L=10km, Q=10 000 m/d, D=254 mm, =800 kg/m
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Roughness, micron
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

d
r
o
p
,

b
a
r
Vi scosi ty = 2 cp
Vi scosi ty = 100 cp
Veslefrikk to Oseberg
38 km pipeline
Effect of roughness factor
10 15 20 25 30
Date
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
D
i
f
f
.

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
Veslefrikk - Oseberg period 13.12.97-29.12.97
Case B , Pressure drop and wax volume
30
35
40
45
50
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (days)
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
V
o
l
u
m
e

(
m
3
)
Pressure drop
Pressure drop, rough. 15% of wax
layer
Measured data
Wax volume
10200 Sm
3
/d from field 1 and 24000 Sm
3
/h from field 2
Simulation:
Pressure drop with
roughness factor 0.15
Pressure drop with
roughness factor 0
Cooldown with different overall U-values
Source: McKenchie (2001)
Methods for controlling wax deposition
Pipeline insulation
External insulation coating on single pipes
Pipe-in-pipe systems
Pigging
Chemicals
Inhibitors
Dispersants
Dissolvers
Hot oil flushing
Heating
Bundles
Electric heating (primarily hydrate control)
FBE
PP-Adhesive
PP-Solid
PP-Syntactic
PP-Solid
PP-Foam
PP-Solid
FBE
PP-Adhesive
PP-Solid
PP-Syntactic
PP-Solid
PP-Foam
PP-Solid
PPD treated oil; this work PPD treated oil; this work
Wax inhibition
Wax management !
Waxy oils
Newtonian (at T > WAT)
Shear-thinning (at T < WAT)
Time-dependent (thixotropic)
Thermal- and shear-history dependent
Yield stress (at T <PP)
Viscoelastic (at small deformations)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Temperature (C)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
V
i
s
c
o
s
i
t
y

(
m
P
a

s
)
Newtonian
30 s-1
100 s-1
300 s-1
500 s-1
WAT
PP
constant =
) (
.
f =
t) , (
.
f =
TH) t, , (
.
f =
' ' =
Rheology depends on composition and fluid
history !
Maximum
Maximum
pour
pour
point
point
condition
condition
Minimum
Minimum
pour
pour
point
point
condition
condition
Yield stress from controlled stress flow curve
Tyrihans Sr crude oil
Static yield
stress
Dynamic yield
stress (fracture onset)
Notice difference
between thermally
pretreated and
non-pretreated
oil!
Maximum Maximum pour pour
point point condition condition
Mimimum Mimimum pour pour
point point condition condition
Fracture
Restart of gelled oil pipeline
P
restart
Gelled oil
Void
Multiphase
Q(t)
P
restart
Gelled oil
Void
Multiphase
Q(t)
P
restart
Single phase
Gelled oil
Q(t)
P
restart
Single phase
Gelled oil
Q(t)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Static yield stress (Pa)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
R
e
s
t
a
r
t

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
5.5"
6"
9"
12"
Restart pressure vs. static yield stress
Pipeline length = 8 km Safety margin = 50%
Effect of good pour point depressant on wax
crystal aggregation
Treatedwith200 ppmPPD:
Orderedaggregates
Wax-freeoil
No thermal conditioning:
Chaoticsoupof waxcrystals
Maximum pour point
Conditionedat 80C:
Aggregates
Wax-freeoil
Minimum pour point
Backup

Integrated Production Umbilical (IPU)

Pour point
The lowest temperature at which an oil will
flow under standard test conditions
(ASTM D-97).
Not a well-defined rheological property, but indicates gelling
temperature in pipeline shut-down situations.
Follow-up with yield stress measurements if PP>0
o
C.
Large effect of thermal history.
Standard thermal pre-treatment (conditioning).
Typically 4-5 wt% solid wax at minimum pour point.
Large effect of dissolved gas.
Non-Newtonian viscosity model
Range 0-10% wax
Pedersen and Rnningsen (1999)
Non-Newtoni an vi scosi ty model
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Volume fraction solid wax
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

v
i
s
c
o
s
i
t
y

30 s-1
100 s-1
500 s-1
Multiphase technology and flow assurance
Integrated approach for wells, flowlines and facilities
Wellbore hydraulics
Transient pipeline
thermohydraulics
Chemical Injection
Package
Sampling -
Laboratory testing
Mobile Test Unit
(MTU)
Fluid properties
Rheology
Multiphase equipment
Multiphase meter
Multiphase pump
Process
Separator
Slug catcher
Scale control
Asphaltene control
Wax control
Hydrate control
Emulsion control
Corrosion control
Added value due to
increased recovery by using multiphase
pumping and/or subsea separation
reduced downtime caused by flowline
plugging(hydrates, waxes) and slugging
tailor-made separation process based on
actual fluid properties
optimal hydrate and wax control strategies
based on LCC
optimal thermohydraulic flowline design
using state-of-the-art tools
increased flowline capacities by using
flowimprovers
reduced chemical usage and emissions by
using heated flowlines and low
concentration inhibitors
simplified satellite tie-in solutions by using
multiphase meters