Experimental Investigations of Ultrasonic Waves Effects on Wax Deposition During Crude-Oil Production

摘要

One of the problems that plagues oil companies is the deposition of wax or paraffin inside pipelines. The present invention is a method for mitigating the wax deposition during crude oil flow in a well-bore or pipeline. The method comprises positioning one ultrasonic frequency generating device adjacent to the production tubing walls and producing one ultrasonic frequency thereby disintegrating the wax and inhibiting the wax from attaching to the production tubing walls. Experiments were done to measure the effect of ultrasonic waves at a frequency of 120 kHz on wax deposition during crude oil flow in a pipeline. In this paper, all the experimental results are described. Some reduction in wax deposition was also achieved due to the ultrasonic waves. Further work is required to identify the optimum frequencies.