Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Original article

Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude

oil pipelines
Martins Obaseki ⇑, Paul T. Elijah
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Nigeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper investigates wax deposition as one of the major problems encountered in oil and gas pipelines
Received 17 August 2019 with a potential environmental damage and with huge financial implications. A molecular diffusion and
Accepted 11 May 2020 aging mechanism model by Fick’s law is applied here to better predict wax deposition thickness in crude
Available online xxxx
oil pipelines. Through theoretical derivation and numerical simulation, the diffusion rate into the deposit
gel has been modified by modifying the deposit layer temperature to accommodate effect of flow veloc-
Keywords: ity. Findings show that the wax deposit is not uniformly distributed along the pipe length. Data were ana-
Wax deposition thickness model
lyzed based on impact changing oil inlet temperature, volumetric flow rate, and high viscosity using
Matlab software/simulator
Molecular diffusion
MATLAB software/Simulator. On validation series model convergence was found to perform better with
reasonable agreement when compared with experimental data. The result of prediction can be used to
determine other parameters in the pipe line such as effective diameter, actual pressure drop and volu-
metric flow rate in through the pipe.
Ó 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Several investigations on wax deposition have been conducted
by many researchers. These investigations show that wax forma-
tion in a waxy oil is accelerated by choking of flow lines, oil tem-
perature drop, the stoppage of oil recovery from oil reservoirs,
the increase of pressure drop, wax gel formation and aging
(Thota and Onyeanuna, 2016). Wax deposition occurs by some pro-
cesses such as precipitation, radial and internal diffusion, gravity
settling, shear dispersion, Brownian diffusion and other rheological
factors. Wax deposition in pipes is influenced by wax appearance
temperature (WAT). Wax starts precipitating when the oil temper-
ature goes below the WAT, wax content of crude is a function of
the composition of the crude (Taiwo et al., 2013; Arya et al.,
2014; Onwuegbuchulem, 2015; Thota and Onyeanuna, 2016).
Wax deposition is one major problem encountered in the oil
and gas industry because about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: martins.obaseki@nmu.edu.ng (M. Obaseki), paul.elijah@nmu.
edu.ng (P.T. Elijah).
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
reserve is waxy oil (Lim et al., 2019). Wax formation and deposi-
tion results in reduced oil flow ability. Reduced pipeline internal
diameter, sometimes causes blockage of oil pipelines and conse-
quently leads to production and economic losses especially when
it is not properly managed (Won, 1986; Fadairo et al., 2010).
Wax deposition and its related problems are mostly experienced
in pipelines in deep seas because the temperature of pipeline
ambient is very low and it results in rapid temperature loss from
oil to the surrounding water (Lim et al., 2019). In the United State
of America, the Alaska North Slope oil field is currently facing wax
deposition problem, the results of which are; high capital invest-
ment and operation cost, loss of production and risk of being aban-
doned (Tao et al., 2008).
The oil and gas industries all over the world are currently bat-
tling wax formation using inhibitors. Inhibitors are chemicals
which are injected into flowing petroleum whose function is to
hinder the formation of wax even when the oil temperature is
below the wax formation temperature. For instance, inhibitors like
Ethylene Vinyl Acetate copolymers are used for Iranian and Brazil-
ian oil (Taraneh et al., 2008), Trichloroethylene-Xylene is used for
Nigerian oil (Bello et al., 2005) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate co-
Diethanolamine is used for Malaysian oil (Anisuzzaman et al.,
2017).
Another approach employed by petroleum industries to
reduced wax deposition is the thermal method and pipeline insu-
lation. Thermal method involves heating the oil at some points

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.05.003
1018-3639/Ó 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: M. Obaseki and P. T. Elijah, Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude oil pipelines, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.05.003
2 M. Obaseki, P.T. Elijah / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

along the pipeline to raise the temperature of the oil above wax Since r is constant, s depends on r d . If rd is determined, then s
appearance temperature and also enhance flow ability of the oil can be calculated. s is therefore a function of r d .
(Tao et al., 2008). Insulation is the coating of pipeline with materi-
s ¼ f ðrd Þ ð2Þ
als with very low heat conductivity. Pipe insulation reduced the
heat loss from the flowing fluid to the ambient. In this way, the
oil remained at a temperature higher than wax deposition temper- 2.2. Wax mass flux
ature while being transported in the pipelines. Researches aimed at
maximizing the use of inhibitors, thermal method and pipe insula- Wax deposition occurs by precipitation and diffusion as the oil
tion are still ongoing (Bello et al, 2005) because these methods are flow through the pipe, thus wax mass flux is generated (g) _ in the
expensive processes which contribute to economic losses in the pipe which in turn initiate wax deposition. Mass flux has been sta-
industries as a result of long-term high operation cost (Lim et al., ted as the mass diffusion rate per unit time, per unit surface area of
2019). These methods will be more efficient if time dependent pipe (Fall, 2002; Oko, 2011). Thus wax deposit thickness and frac-
temperature and wax deposition profile can be predicted tion of wax in the deposit are both functions of wax mass flux.
accurately.
dm
The third method of combating wax deposition problem is g_ ¼ _
) dm ¼ gAdt ð3Þ
known as pigging which is routine mechanical removal of wax.
Adt
In this method wax are scrubbed off from the pipe internal wall
rd ; g ¼ f ðdmÞ ð4Þ
by some mechanical system. The three methods discussed here
can be maximized if the wax formation processes and deposit
where A ¼ surface area of pipe
thickness can be predicted at any given time. One of the ways in
which this can be done is proper modeling of the process which The relationship in Eq. (4) can express as a partial differential
is the main aim of this work. equation as shown in Eq. (5).
From the forgoing, it is clear that proper modeling will aid effi- @m @m
cient wax management. To that effect, there researches aimed at dm ¼ drd þ dg ð5Þ
@r d @g
investigating parameters associated with wax deposition in pipeli-
nes and models that can predict wax deposition thickness. Some of
these works are highlighted here. Kelechukwu et al. (2010) report 2.3. Wax deposition process
that the oil flow rate had great effect on the formation of wax
deposition time and thickness of wax layer in the crude oil pipe- Taking the derivative of Eq. (5) with respect to time will give the
line. Mohammed and Zougari (2010) detailed the dynamics of rate at the wax mass goes from the oil to the deposit.
the wax deposition on the wall with various oil temperatures
dm @m dr d @m dg
and time. Fadairo et al., 2010 models wax deposition during oil ¼ : þ : ð6Þ
dt @r d dt @ g dt
production using a two-phase flash calculation. Oyekunle and
Adeyanju (2011) in their study noted that the operating pressure Eq. (5) can be written as
and the various components of petroleum also had some effect

@m dr d dm @m dg
on the wax deposition in crude oil pipeline. Tabish et al. (2011) : ¼  : ð7Þ
in their study proposed that asphaltene has impact on the forma-
@r d dt dt @ g dt
tion of the wax deposition (Hu et al., 2014). The same impact The equation of mass flux which is the mass diffusion rate per
was also observed in insulated pipelines. Hu et al. (2015) studied unit time, per unit surface area of pipe can be written as.
wax deposition in insulated pipeline using the experimental
dm
method, and came up with a correlation using SPSS software and ¼ Ag_ ð8aÞ
regression model. Muhammad (2018) investigates the effect of dt
shear stress on wax deposit thickness with and without spiral flow. where A ¼ 2prd L; r d  r
Subramaniie et al. (2019) present experimental study on the effect
dm
of wax inhibitor and nanoparticles on rheology of crude oil. The ¼ 2pr d Lg_ ð8bÞ
dt
study identifies wax deposition as the utmost challenge in produc-
tion and transportation of crude oil. They proposed that in order to Fall (2002) and Oko (2011), Fick’s law of mass diffusion states
overcome solid deposition that physical characterization of crude that:
oil is crucial. @C
There are numerous researches on the topic, however, reliable g_ ¼ D12 ð9Þ
@rd
analytical models for prediction of wax related problems are still
needed in this field, hence this study. This study combines the Thus, the rate at which wax mass goes into the deposit interface
parameters established by various companies to have significant from the oil is derived by combining Eqs. (8) and (9)
effect on wax formation and deposition to develop a model to pre-

dm @C
dict the wax deposit thickness in pipelines based on the wax ¼ 2pr d L D12 j12 ð10Þ
dt @r d
molecular diffusion and aging mechanism.
The wax deposit become gradually hardened as more solid wax
2. Model formulation and simulation diffuses internally into the deposit. This process is known as aging
(Giancarlo et al., 2017). Let the mass flux for the internal diffusion
2.1. Thickness of wax deposit be j, by Fick’s law j is calculated as (Banki et al., 2008):
@C
The actual thickness of wax deposit is the difference between j_ ¼ D23 ð11Þ
@r d
the internal radius of pipe before deposition and the internal radius
of pipe after wax deposition. Thus, the rate at which wax solid mass fraction goes from the
deposit interface to the solid wax solid deposit is obtained by com-
s ¼ r  rd ð1Þ
bining Eqs. (11) and (12)

Please cite this article as: M. Obaseki and P. T. Elijah, Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude oil pipelines, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.05.003
 M. Obaseki, P.T. Elijah / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx 3



@m dg @C Substituting Eq. (22) in Eq. (21b) gives Eq. (23) which is the wax
: ¼ 2pr d Lj_ ¼ 2pr d L D23 j23 ð12Þ
@ g dt @rd deposit thickness growth rate.



Substituting Eqs. (10) and (12) into Eq. (7) gives; ds 1 @C @C


 ¼ D12 j12  D23 j23 ð23Þ
dt qg @r d @r d
@m dr d @C @C
: ¼ 2pr d L D12 j12  D23 j23 ð13Þ
@rd dt @r d @rd
2.6. Time dependent wax deposit thickness
D12 Can been defined as (14a)

T 1:47 lð V w 0:791Þ
10:2
The thickness of wax deposit is determined by solving the first
D12 ¼ 13:3  1012  ð14aÞ order ordinary differential equation. Thus, solving Eq. (23) gives Eq.
V 0:71
w
(24)
At the pipe length, L, the temperature T ¼ T l and T l is given as 


t @C @C
(Morten, 2012); s¼ D12 j12 þ D23 j23 þ k1 ð24aÞ
qg @r d @r d
ðho pdL=mCÞ
_
T l ¼ T s þ ðT  T s Þe ð14bÞ
k1 is an integration constant. At t ¼ 0, s ¼ 0, therefore, k1 ¼ 0
Equation (14) shows that wax deposition is a function of tem- The actual solid wax fraction of deposit at time, t, is modeled by
perature (Thota and Onyeanuna, 2016) the equation in (25c).
D23 is given by Cussler as: 


t @C @C
s¼ D12 j12 þ D23 j23 ð24bÞ
D23 ¼
D12
 2 2 ð15Þ qg @r d @r d
1 þ r1gg
2.7. Growth rate of solid wax fraction in deposit
2.4. Rate of decrease of pipe effective radius as wax is depositing
The growth rate of solid wax fraction in the deposit can be cal-
Given that wax deposit of thickness s ¼ r  r d is deposited in a culated by solving equation (12) and (20) simultaneously.


pipe of length L when crude oil of density q flows through the pipe dg @C
for a period of time t in seconds. The mass of solid wax in the pðr2  r2d ÞqL ¼ 2pr d L D23 j23 ð25aÞ
dt @r d
deposit can be calculated using Eq. (16)
 
@C
m ¼ pðr 2  r 2d ÞqLg ð16Þ dg 2r d D23 @r j23
¼ ð25bÞ
d

dt ðr 2  r 2d Þq
Taking the partial derivative of the mass deposited with respect
to rd gives Eq. (17) Substituting r  s ¼ r d into equation (25b);
 
@m
dg 2ðr  sÞ D23 @rd j23
@C
¼ 2pr d qLg ð17Þ
@rd ¼ ð25cÞ
dt sð2r  sÞq
@m dr d dr d
: ¼ 2pr d qLg ð18Þ
@rd dt dt 2.8. Time dependent solid wax fraction in deposit
Taking the partial derivative of the mass deposited with respect
to mass fraction,g gives Eq. (19) The solid wax fraction of wax deposit at time, t, is determined
by solving the ordinary differential equation of solid wax growth
@m
¼ pðr2  r 2d ÞqL ð19Þ rate.
@g

2tðr  sÞ @C
gðtÞ ¼ D23 j23 þ k2 ð26aÞ
By chain rule, Eq. (20) is obtained from Eq. (19). sð2r  sÞq @rd
@m dg dg k2 is an integration constant. At t ¼ 0, g ¼ 0, therefore, k2 ¼ 0
: ¼ pðr2  r2d ÞqL ð20Þ
@ g dt dt

2tðr  sÞ @C
Equations (13) and (18) are similar. Solving them simultane- gðtÞ ¼ D23 j23 ð26bÞ
sð2r  sÞq @rd
ously gives Eq. (21)



dr d @C @C
2prd qLg ¼ 2pr d L D12 j12  D23 j23 ð21aÞ 2.9. Wax concentration gradient
dt @r d @r d
@C
Rearranging Eq. (21a) gives Eq. (21b) Wax concentration gradient, @r d
, has been determined to be


 approximately by Eq. (29) according to Zhenyu et al. (2017).
dr d 1 @C @C
¼ D12 j12  D23 j23 ð21bÞ @C C i  C j C iðeqÞ  C jðeqÞ
dt qg @r d @r d j ¼  ; i ¼ 1; 2; j ¼ 2; 3: ð27aÞ
@r d ij rd rd

2.5. Growth rate of wax deposit thickness Equation (29) cannot be used to predict concentration gradient
since r d is not known at the time of prediction. Solubility method
@C
The rate at which wax deposit thickness increases is obtained defined @r as the product of solubility coefficient and temperature
d
as; gradient. The concentration gradient can be approximated by this
ds dðr  r d Þ dr d method. This method assumes that wax will precipitate as the sol-
¼ ¼ ð22Þ ubility decreases (Moritz et al., 2011; Giancarlo et al., 2017; Nayef,
dt dt dt
2017).

Please cite this article as: M. Obaseki and P. T. Elijah, Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude oil pipelines, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.05.003
4 M. Obaseki, P.T. Elijah / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

@C dC dT @C
j  : j ð27bÞ j ¼ D23 j
@r d ij dT dr ij @r d 23
Then;
dT hT ðT i  T j Þ
j ¼ ð28Þ
dr ij C th dC ðT 1  T 2 Þ
g_ ¼ D12 hT : ð37aÞ
dT C th
dC
dT
¼Solubility coefficient
Thus; the radial concentration gradient from the free flowing dC ho
fluid to the deposit layer is given as; j ¼ D23 : ðT  T s Þeð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
ð37bÞ
dT C th
@C dC ðT 1  T 2 Þ
j ¼ hT : ð29Þ Then, Eqs. (24) and (26) becomes;
@r d 12 dT C th
t
Shear dispersion is one of the factors that contribute to wax s¼ ½g_  j ð37cÞ
qg
deposition (Huang et al., 2008; Muhammad, 2018). Wenda et al.
(2015), shear dispassion is predominant at the higher velocity 2tðr  sÞ
and wax deposition rate is more of shear dispersion than molecular gðtÞ ¼ ðjÞ ð37dÞ
sð2r  sÞq
diffusion. So to account for shear dispersion effect the temperature
gradient at the vicinity of the pipe wall where wax gel is deposited Equation (37a-d) shall be used to calculate the wax deposition
was determined by heat transfer equation as; thickness in this study.
dT _
mC dT
j ¼ : ð30Þ 2.11. Simulation of wax deposit model
dr 23 2C th pr dL
When wax gel is deposited in the pipe, it reduces the pipe effec- To evaluate the developed model, MATLAB script was written to
tive diameter thereby causing obstruction to the flow (Taraneh calculate the wax deposition thickness with time and deposition
et al., 2015). This may lead to high pressure in the pipe and high along the pipe length. A script was written to investigate and plot
shear stress on the deposit thereby causing some of the deposit the deposition pattern in the pipeline of length 1000 m. The input
to be removed mechanically. Velga et al. (2012), shear stripping data for the simulation are presented in Table1.
should not be neglected in wax deposition modeling, therefore,
to account for it Reynolds’s Number which determined the flow 3. Results and discussions
regime and temperature which determine the precipitation rate
(Thota and Onyeanuna, 2016) are incorporated into the equation. The MATLAB scripts were executed and the following results
Solving Eq. (29) in terms of Reynolds’s Number by introducing vis- were obtained. Fig. 1 shows that the thickness of wax deposited
cosity, l; gives; is not the same at every point on the pipe.
dT RE Pr dT
j ¼ : ð31Þ 3.1. Comparison with field data
dr 23 4 dL

lC Fig. 1 shows that wax started deposited at the point where oil
Pr ¼ ð32Þ
C th temperature goes below wax appearance temperature (WAT) and
this happened at about 4.3 km from the pipe inlet which corre-
2qV z r sponds to about 7 h of flow from the inlet. The field data and the
RE ¼ ð33Þ
l simulation data at length 4.5 km along the pipe were compared.
0
The correlation between the data shows that the R2 value is
P r is the Prandtl Number and RE istheReynold sNumber: Prandtl 0.997 as shown in Fig. 2, indicating perfect correlation. The plot
Number measure the effect of viscosity on wax deposition while in Fig. 3 shows that the simulated result is perfectly close the field
the Reynolds’s number determined the effect of fluid velocity and data obtained at 4.6 km length from the pipe inlet. Thus, the error
by extension, flow regime on the deposition of wax. plot in Fig. 5 shows an average percentage error of 3%. Thus, field
The temperature of fluid flowing in the pipe at any length, L, of data in a real sense means the data collected outside laboratory
the pipe has been given by the relation (Morten, 2012); findings setting. The field data was obtained through the company
reviewing documents and records.
T ðlÞ ¼ T s þ ðT  T s Þeð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
The oil parameter at any section of a pipe will be fairly constant
Differentiating with respect to L yield; initially except for the concentration gradient if the oil from the
same source flows through the pipe. The temperature, viscosity,
dT 2ho prðT  T s Þ ð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
¼ e ð34Þ density, wax content and other properties of the oil at section A
dL _
mC
of the Fig. 4 will approximately be the same if the source parame-
Substituting in Eq. (29) gives; ters are the same.
dT ho The concentration gradient at any section of the pipe such as
j ¼ ðT  T s Þeð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
ð35Þ section A will drop slightly due to deposition and then remain con-
dr 23 C th
stant due to aging. Aging is a process whereby wax content at the
Thus, the concentration gradient of the deposit layer is given as; deposit layer fuse into the deposit forcing trapped oil out. This pro-
@C dC ho cess reduced the concentration build up at the deposit layer and
j ¼ : ðT  T s Þeð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
ð36Þ maintains a fairly constant wax concentration at the layer which
@r d 23 dT C th
results in fairly constant wax concentration gradient at the section.
Also, for an insulated pipe where heat loss is at a reduced rate, the
2.10. Calculation of wax deposit thickness at Time, T(S) aging process will approximately equate the concentration built up
rate at the deposit layer and result in constant concentration
Let; g_ ¼ D12 @r
@C
j12 gradient.
d

Please cite this article as: M. Obaseki and P. T. Elijah, Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude oil pipelines, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.05.003
 M. Obaseki, P.T. Elijah / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

Table 1
Input Data for Simulation.

S/N Quantity Symbol Value Unit

1 Viscosity of wax gel deposit l 0.233 Kg=ms
2 Density of wax gel deposit q 852.7 Kg=m3
3 Thermaldiffusivityofwax a12 9:8  107 m2 =s
4 Kinematicviscosityofoil l1 4:44  106 m2 =s
5 Molarvolumeofwaxcristal Vw 435 cm3 =mol
6 Wax Concentration C1 12 %wt
7 Wax Appearance Temperature Ta 43 °C
8 Ambient Temperature Ts 21 °C
9 Oil inlet temperature T 60 °C
10 Internal radius r 0.1025 m
11 Thermal Conductivity of oil cth 0.579 W=mk
12 Heat transfer coefficient of pipe wall hT 8 W=m2 k
13 Velocity of flow Vz 0.0191 m=s
14 Diffusion Coefficient of oil to wax D12 5:62  1010 m2 =s
15 Solubility Coefficient dC 0.191 Kg=m3 K
dT
16 Precipitation rate constant kp 0.15
17 Specific Gravity of oil SG 0.8527
18 Volumetric flow rate Q 0.00063 m3 =s
19 Heat transfer coefficient of crude oil ho 0.25 W=m2 k
20 Specific Heat Capacity of pipe material Cp 502.4 J=KgK
21 Specific Heat Capacity of oil C 2300 J=KgK

80 0.2
Deposit Thickness [mm]
Temperature [oC]

4.2857, 0.15
60
43 0.1
40
0.05
20 0
0 10 20 30
0
Time [Days]
0 10 20 30
Pipe Length [Km] Field Data Simulaon
Fig. 3. Plot of Field data versus simulated data.
Oil Temp WAT
Fig. 1. Plot of Temperature Profile and WAT.

0.2 R² = 0.997 A
Simulated Data

0.15
0.1
0.05 Fig. 4. Property of oil in pipe.

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Field Data 10
Error [%]

Fig. 2. Plot of Correlation of Field data versus simulated data. 5

0
3.2. Comparison with Matzain model 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
The Matzain model is a modified Fick’s law of molecular diffu- Simulaon Wax Deposit thickness …
sion. According to Sai et al. (2015); Anand and Anirbid (2017),
the Matzain wax deposition is given as: Fig. 5. Error Plot of Simulated data.

Please cite this article as: M. Obaseki and P. T. Elijah, Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude oil pipelines, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.05.003
6 M. Obaseki, P.T. Elijah / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

@ s D12 P1 dC w dT 0.5
¼ : : ð38Þ
@t 1  P2 dT dr

Deposit Thickness
Where
0

[mm]
dT hT ðT  T w Þ 0 10 20 30
¼
dr C th
Time [Days]
P1 and P2 are emperical relationships defined as;

C1
This Work Matzain C2 =5.5
P1 ¼ ð39Þ
1  C o =100 Fig. 7. Comparison of Modified Matzain Results with the result of this study.

P2 ¼ C 2 RCE 3 ð40Þ
0.06
!

Deposit Thickness [mm]

R0:15
C o ¼ 100 1  E ð41Þ 0.04
8
0
RE ¼ Reynold s Number 0.02
C 1 ; C 2 and C 3 are constants whose v alues are
C 1 ¼ 15; C 2 ¼ 0:055andC 3 ¼ 1:4 0
C o ¼ percentage oil trapped in wax 0 5 10 15 20 25
C w ¼ wax content ½wt% and T ¼ temperature [0C] -0.02
According to Anand and Anirbid (2017), Matzain model takes Time[Days]
into consideration the effect of shear stripping and flow regime
(Laminar and turbulent flow) effect. However, the concept of aging
was not properly considered. It was also noted that Matzain model This Work Matzain
performed better for South-Pelto oil.
In this study, a MATLAB code was written to execute Matzain Fig. 8. Comparison of Modified Matzain wax deposit thickness along the pipe with
the developed model.
model Eqs. (38)–(41) and compare the result to the field data
and data simulated by the model in this study. Fig. 6 shows wax
deposit thickness at t = 30 days at L = 4600 m in the pipe. Fig. 6
thickness is not the same along the pipe. The deposit thickness var-
shows that Matzain model gives much higher values
ies along the pipe with the higher values obtained near the pipe
atC 2 ¼ 0:055. However, when C 2 was set to 5:5 the result obtained
inlet. This could be explained in terms of temperature profile and
is quite closed to my field data as well as my simulation data
concentration profile. The temperature dropped exponentially
though a bit higher as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. It can be concluded
along the pipe. The solubility coefficient dropped also, but the
that Matzain model can be adjusted by simply modifying its con-
wax content of the fluid dropped significantly since more of it
stants to predict wax deposition rate at the different oil region of
has been deposited previously. The amount of wax available to
the world.
be deposited reduced resulting in low deposition thickness. The
model suggested that wax deposition will be very minimal
3.3. Analysis of wax deposit in pipe towards the end of a very long pipe.
The deposit thickness at different times along the pipe was cal-
To determine the level of wax deposition at the different seg- culated using MATLAB simulator and the result plotted as shown in
ment of the pipelines, A MATLAB script was written. The script Fig. 9. The result shows that at different times wax deposit thick-
was executed with the pipe length set to different values from ness will increase at a proportional rate but higher deposit is still
inlet. The code was also executed for a range of length. The result obtained near the pipe inlet. This suggest that if a pipeline is
obtained is plotted in Fig. 8. The result shows that wax deposit subjected to continuous operation for a long period of time, it is
Deposit Thickness [mm]

40

20

0
0 10 20 30
Time [Days]

This Work Matzain C2 =5.5

Matzain C2 =0.055
Fig. 6. Comparison of Matzain Results at different Value of C2. Fig. 9. Wax Deposition at different length of the pipe.

Please cite this article as: M. Obaseki and P. T. Elijah, Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude oil pipelines, Journal of King
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 M. Obaseki, P.T. Elijah / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx 7

0.05 The same way, the rate of change of wax concentration gradient
Deposit Thickness

is obtained from equation (43a) as;


0 2C 1 ho prL ð2ho prL=mCÞ
2
d @C
[mm]

0 5 10
Pipe Length [km]
t = 20days t = 30days
Fig. 10. Comparison wax deposit along the pipe at different time.
likely to get the smallest effective radius near the pipe inlet and as
such there will larger pressure built up towards the inlet and larger
pressure drop towards the end of the pipeline due to wax deposit.
Fig. 10 Shows that the higher the Reynolds’s Number, the lower
the deposition rate. This explained the effect of shear dispersion.
Higher Reynold’s Number represent higher flow speed and at
higher flow speed shear dispersion becomes the predominant
cause of wax deposition.
3.4. Concentration of wax in the crude oil will decrease with time and
the pipe length
_
15 20 25 j12 ¼ e ð44bÞ
dt @r d _
C th mtC
fort–0
t = 40days
Equation (43a), 43c, 44a and 44b are used to determined
changes in wax concentration of oil at different pipe lengths and
at different time interval.
MATLAB scripts based on these equations were used to plot the
wax concentration profile. The results are shown in Figs. 11–13.
The plots show that wax concentration decrease with time and
along the pipe length. This will lead to decrease in deposition rate
and hence deposition thickness along the pipeline. Drop in wax
concentration along the pipe is as a result of wax deposition along
the pipeline. Below the wax appearance temperature, wax starts
depositing and the resultant wax content of the oil is less than
the initial wax content, this process continued throughout the
entire length of the pipe. This model is helpful because it will be
useful in predicting the part of a pipeline where wax deposit thick-
ness is high so that appropriate measures (such as pigging fre-
quency or oil heating) are needed.

Wax concentration in the flow stream can be studied using the

concentration gradient equation. 3.5. Deposition rate will also change with time and the pipe length
The concentration gradient of the flow stream can be obtained
by modifying equation (36) as; Time dependent wax deposition rate,ddts, can be determined by
   
@C dC ho @C
substituting the value of dtd @r @C
j12 in equation (44b) for @r j12
j ¼ : ðT  T i Þeð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
ð42Þ d d
@r d 12 dT C th in Eq. (23).

where
Ti = wax concentration in the oil near deposit layer 0.04
Deposit Thickness

When no wax is deposited, the concentration of wax at the pipe 0.02

inner wall is zero. That is,c2 ¼ 0, therefore; c1  c2 ¼ c1 . Thus, the
[mm]

Solubility Coefficient is given as; 0

dC C1 dC 0 5 10 15 20 25
¼ ) C 1 ¼ ðT  T i Þ ð42bÞ -0.02
dT T  T i dT Pipe Length [Km]

c1 ¼ waxinitialconcentrationintheoil
RE = 100 RE = 200 RE = 400
The concentration gradient at any length of the pipe is given as;
Fig. 11. Comparison wax deposit along the pipe at different values of Reynolds’s
@C C 1 ho ð2ho prL=mCÞ
_ Number.
j ¼ e ð43aÞ
@r d 12 C th
Integrating equation (43a) gives the wax concentration, cðl=rÞ ; at
any length; l; or pipe internal perpendicular distance from the wall, 6
Wax Radial Concentraon

r i for 0  ri  r; as;
5
Gradient [%wt/m]

C 1 r i ho ð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
cðl=rÞ ¼  e ð43bÞ
C th 4
Within the same fluid layer, thermal conductivity is equal the
product of heat transfer coefficient and the perpendicular distance 3
from the pipe wall, that is,r i ho ¼ C th , and the negative sign shows
direction of heat flow. Thus equation (43b) becomes; 2
cðl=rÞ ¼ C 1 eð2ho prL=mCÞ
_
ð43cÞ 1
The rate of change of concentration is determined by putting 0
m_ ¼ mt and differentiating equation (43b) with respect to time. This
0 5 10 15 20 25
gives equation for rate of change in wax concentration as;
2C 1 ho prL ð2ho prL=mCÞ
Pipe Length [Km]
d _
cðl=rÞ ¼ e ð44aÞ
dt mtC_ Fig. 12. Wax Radial Concentration Gradient along the pipeline at t = 7 days.

Please cite this article as: M. Obaseki and P. T. Elijah, Dynamic modeling and prediction of wax deposition thickness in crude oil pipelines, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.05.003
8 M. Obaseki, P.T. Elijah / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

12 4. Conclusion
Wax Concentraon

10
Wax deposits in pipelines restrict the oil flow volume and cause
8 unnecessary pressure build-up in pipelines. This causes waste in
[%wt]

6 energy and resources. Wax deposit thickness prediction can help

4 the oil firm do appropriate maintenance at the appropriate time
2 at the appropriate section of the pipes.
The following have been achieved in this study:
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 1. A model was applied to predict wax deposit thickness in pipe-
Pipe Length [Km] lines. The model is based on molecular diffusion by Fick’s law.
The diffusion rate into the deposit gel has been modified by
Fig. 13. Wax Concentration Profile along the Pipeline at t = 7 days. modifying the deposit layer temperature to accommodate the
effects of flow velocity.
2. The applied model when compared with Matzain model, per-
formed better with reasonable agreement with experimental
data.
5.00E-05 3. The Matzain model was modified by adjusting the value of the
Wax Concentraon
Rate of Change of

4.00E-05 constant C2. The modified Matzain model was found to perform
better than the original.
[%wt/ms]

3.00E-05
2.00E-05
1.00E-05
0.00E+00
0 10
Time [Days]
Fig. 14. Rate of decrease wax concentration at L = 3 km.
In the same way, the wax deposition rate at different pipeline
length was determined by substituting the value of @r @C
j12 in Eq.
(43a) into Eq. (23).
A script was written to carry out the calculation and plot the
result in MATLAB work space. Fig. 14 shows decrease along the
length of the pipe. From the figure, it can be concluded that depo-
sition rate increases exponentially immediately after the wax
appearance temperature (WAT) is exceeded. As wax is deposited,
the wax temperature starts dropping. Also, there exist wax mole-
cules at the deposit layer, thus, wax concentration gradient
decreases with an increase in wax content of the deposit layer.
Fick’s law explains that concentration gradient is the major driving
force which causes wax deposition. Along the length of the pipe,
concentration of wax as well as concentration gradient decreases
as shown in Figs. 11 and 12 because some wax has already been
deposited Fig. 15.
4. Analysis of the applied model in this study shows that the wax
deposit is not uniformly distributed along the pipe length.
Deposition of wax started at about 4.3 km. There was no depo-
sition of wax until the oil temperature dropped below Wax
Appearance Temperature (WAT). WAT is 430 and the oil inlet
20 30 temperature is 600. The oil temperature equals WAT at
4285.7 m from entrance of the pipeline (refer to Fig. 1). The cor-
relation between the data shows that the R2 value is 0.997 as
shown in Fig. 2, indicating perfect correlation. The plot in
Fig. 3 shows that the simulated result is perfectly close the field
data obtained at 4.6 km length from the pipe inlet. Thus, the
error plot in Fig. 5 shows an average percentage error of 3%.
5. The concentration of wax in the crude oil will decrease with
time and pipe length.
d
6. The deposition rate will also change with time and the pipe
length.
The model applied in this study was found to perform better
with reasonable agreement when compared with field data. It
can be used to predict the wax thickness in a pipeline at any sec-
tion of the pipe. The result of prediction can be used to determine
other parameters in the pipe line such as effective diameter, actual
pressure drop and volumetric flow rate through the pipe.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgement
2.00E-07
Wax Deposion Rate

No fund received, it was self-sponsored.

1.50E-07
[mm/s]

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