In order to evaluate the possible ways for the exploitation of potential oil reserves characterized by waxy oils, two technologies have been investigated. The proposed technologies are already applied in downstream industry, but would be considered innovative for this transport application. The oils under evaluation are waxy, extra-viscous oils, characterized by high pour point. Reservoirs with these characteristics may be found e.g. in Sub-Saharian areas. The present study addresses the possibility to develop these reserves by means of two non-conventional technologies for the upstream production: Dewaxing and Visbreaking. For the first one, the idea is to set up an in-situ plant to separate wax from the oil. The de-waxed crude could be then transported directly by pipeline. In the second case, the properties of the streams should be previously improved by means of a visbreaking process. The evaluation shows that, based on the properties used in this study, the visbreaking is more effective in improving oil transportability. The obtainable improvements are however moderate, so that a careful balance of costs and benefits should be determined on a case by case basis.
展开▼
