Alade Olalekan S, Hassan Amjed, Mahmoud Mohamed, Al-Shehri Dhafer, Al-Majed Abdulaziz
Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
ACS Omega. 2020 Feb 24;5(8):4313-4321. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b04268. eCollection 2020 Mar 3.
This article focuses on the flow assurance of waxy crude oil using an environmentally benign and cost-effective approach involving thermochemical reaction. The study incorporates experimental and simulation works to evaluate heat and pressure generation potentials and heat transfer efficiency of the thermochemical fluids. Experimental results reveal that at the concentration (1 M) of thermochemical fluid (TCF) ranging between 14 and 33% v/wt of the waxy oil, sufficient heat could be generated to raise the temperature of the oil significantly above the pour point (48 °C). In addition, from the bench-top treatment of a damaged tubing, it was observed that more than 95% of the deposited wax could be removed using the thermochemical solutions. Subsequently, a large-scale application of the technology in a long-distance flow assurance of waxy crude oil was confirmed through process simulation. Ultimately, the simulation results revealed the capacity of the method to improve the temperature and pressure profiles of the pipe flow system, and most significantly, to remove wax deposition up to 98%.
本文重点关注采用涉及热化学反应的环境友好且经济高效的方法来确保含蜡原油的流动安全。该研究结合了实验和模拟工作，以评估热化学流体的产热和产压潜力以及传热效率。实验结果表明，在热化学流体（TCF）浓度为1 M、占含蜡油体积/重量比介于14%至33%之间时，能够产生足够的热量，使油的温度显著升高至倾点（48°C）以上。此外，通过对受损管道的桌面处理观察到，使用热化学溶液可去除超过95%的沉积蜡。随后，通过过程模拟证实了该技术在含蜡原油长距离流动安全保障方面的大规模应用。最终，模拟结果显示该方法能够改善管道流动系统的温度和压力分布，最重要的是，能去除高达98%的蜡沉积。
