Influence of micro-crystalline Poly(ethylene-butene) random Copolymers on wax gelation of Black oils

摘要

Wax precipitation or gelation from crude oil is especially problematic in the petroleum industry where wax plugs pumps,transmission lines and filters.Polymer additives,such as ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer,polyethylene/(ethylene propylene) block copolymer,offer the possibility to modify the wax crystallization and thus to improve the rheological properties of waxy oil [1].The micro-crystalline poly(ethylene-butene) (PEB) random copolymer,as a new candidate of wax modifier,has been proven recently to be very effective in modification of long chain n-paraffin crystallization and reduction of yield stresses of model waxy oils consisting of single or mixed long chain n-paraffins [2-4].In this work,we discuss the influence of PEB on the behavior of real crude oils instead of model waxy oils upon cooling.