Forecasting formation of paraffinic deposits in crude oil during extraction, transport and storage

摘要

The method is for forecasting the formation of paraffinic deposits in crude oil during extraction, transport and storage. Frequently, crude oil contains appreciable quantities of heavy n-alkanes which with refinement or freeing of gases due to a drop in pressure during extraction or during transport tend to be deposited in pipelines in the form of waxes. The method forecasts the conditions for occurrence of paraffinic deposits from the knowledge of a reduced number of characteristics of the oil, with the paraffin content and the declination of the composition in heavy paraffins obtained by a compositional analysis. This information is used to create a fictitious fluid, which in terms of phase balance behaves like a real fluid. Using an equation to describe fluid phases and a model of local composition to describe solid phases, it is possible to forecast the conditions in which a crude oil will form solid deposits.