PETROLEUM ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

Optimizing AS5062
Wa
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Flow Assurance in Petroleum Industries

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Unit-5: Organic Deposits Removal and
Prevention Methods.

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Basic definitions and Wax Management
techniques in the Oil and Gas Industry.
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Srinivasan S
2021311035
OBJECTIVE:
To learn about the removal and prevention
methods of organic deposits.
IMPORTANCE:
Maintain production efficiency, minimize
Cost effects and product quality.
CONTENTS:
Definitions: Concepts:
i) Cloud Point i) Flowline Pigging
ii) Pour Point ii) Thermal Insulation
iii) Gel Strength iii) Coiled Tubing Tech.
iv) Line Heaters iv) Inhibitor Injection
v) Surfactants v) Remediation Methods
DEFINITIONS:
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CLOUD POINT: The temperature at which waxy components in a crude oil or petroleum product begin to
crystallize and form a cloudy appearance, indicating the onset of wax precipitation and potential flow
restriction.

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POUR POINT: The lowest temperature at which a liquid, typically crude oil or petroleum-based fluid, will
flow under specified conditions, representing the point at which it becomes too viscous to pour or pump
easily.

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GEL STRENGTH: The measure of the resistance of a gel-like substance, such as drilling mud or wellbore
fluids, to flow or deformation under applied stress, indicating its ability to suspend solids and maintain

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wellbore stability.

LINE HEATERS: Equipment used in the oil and gas industry to heat pipelines and flowlines, typically

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through the circulation of hot fluids or gases, in order to prevent the formation of hydrates, wax
deposition, or viscosity increase that could impede flow.

SURFACTANTS: Chemical compounds that reduce the surface tension between two substances, such as oil
and water, facilitating the dispersion of one substance into another and enhancing processes such as
emulsification, wetting, or foaming in various industrial applications, including oilfield operations.
LINE HEATER
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WAX FORMATION IN PIPELINES
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INTRODUCTION:
Production operations use a variety of techniques for managing and controlling wax, but

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moving crude oil over long distances in a subsea system requires careful planning. Typically,
the strategy for managing wax is predicated on one or more techniques.
They are,
(i) Inhibitor injection
(ii) Coiled tubing technology
(iii) Thermal insulation & Pipeline heating
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(iv) Flowline pigging.
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If the wax has formed, flowline pigging is the most popular method of controlling it. The
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scouring action of the pig is used to remove the solid deposit by periodically removing the
wax layer.

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Wax deposition can also be controlled with the use of chemical inhibitors, though these
compounds are typically costly and not always effective. In those times, we will use coiled
tubing technology in order to remove the wax content in the pipeline.
CHEMICAL INHIBITION:
Chemical inhibition is generally more expensive than mechanical pigging, although the cost
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comparison depends on pigging frequency requirements, chemical inhibition effectiveness,
and many other factors. Chemical inhibitors can reduce deposition rates but rarely can

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eliminate deposition altogether. The chemicals must match the chemistry of the oil, at the
operating conditions, to be effective. Testing of inhibitor effectiveness is absolutely necessary
for each application. The tests should be carried out at likely operating conditions.

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The chemical inhibitors for wax prevention include:
(i) Thermodynamic wax inhibitor(TWI): cloud point suppression, viscosity and pour point
reduction, requires high volume.

but do not reduce rate of wax deposition. Enhanced

(ii) Pour point depressants: modify wax crystal structure, reduce viscosity and yield stress,

(iii) Dispersants/surfactants: coat wax crystals to prevent wax growth; alter wetting

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characteristics to minimize wax adhesion to pipe wall or other crystals.
(iv) Crystal modifiers: co-crystallize with wax, reduce deposition rate, but do not prevent
formation, reduce viscosity/pour point, no universal chemical - performance is case specific,
high cost, pigging still required, inject above cloud point.
COILED TUBING TECHNOLOGY:
A cost- and time-effective solution for well intervention operations employs coiled tubing.
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Instead of removing the tubing from the well, which is how workover rigs fix the problem,
coiled tubing is inserted into the tubing against the pressure of the well and during

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production. The coiled tubing is a continuous length of steel or composite tubing that is
flexible enough to be wound on a large reel for transportation. The coiled tubing unit is
composed of a reel with the coiled tubing, an injector, control console, power supply and

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well-control stack. The coiled tubing is injected into the existing production string, unwound
from the reel and inserted into the well. Coiled tubing is chosen over conventional straight
tubing because conventional tubing has to be screwed together. Additionally, coiled tubing

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does not require a workover rig. Because coiled tubing is inserted into the well while
production is ongoing, it is also a cost-effective choice and can be used on high-pressure
wells. Additionally, some advances in coiled tubing allow for real-time downhole

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measurements that can be used in logging operations and wellbore treatments. Enhanced Oil
Recovery (EOR) processes, such as hydraulic and acid fracturing, can also be performed using
coiled tubing.
COILED TUBING TECHNOLOGY
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COILED TUBING TECHNOLOGY
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THERMAL INSULATION AND PIPELINE HEATING:
A good thermal insulation can keep the fluid above the cloud point for the whole flowline
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and thus eliminate waxes deposition totally. Although line heaters can be successfully
employed from the wellhead to other facilities, the physical nature of the crystallizing waxes

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has not been changed. This can be a problem once the fluids are sent to storage, where the
temperature and fluid movement conditions favor the formation of wax crystals and lead to
gels and sludge.

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FLOWLINE PIGGING:

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The rate of deposition can be reduced by flowline insulation and by the injection of wax
dispersant chemicals, which can reduce deposition rates by up to five times. However, it must
be emphasized that these chemicals do not completely stop the deposition of wax. Therefore,

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it is still necessary to physically remove the wax by pigging the flowline. Pigging must be
carried out frequently to avoid the buildup of large quantities of wax. If the wax deposit
becomes too thick, there will be insufficient pressure to push the pig through the line as the

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wax accumulates in front of it. Pigging also requires that the subsea oil system be shutdown,
stabilized by methanol injection and blow down, and finally, restarted after the pigging has
been completed. This entire process may result in the loss of 1-3 days of production. The

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deposition models created based on the fluids analysis work and the flow assurance
calculations are the key to establishing pigging intervals that are neither too frequent to be

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uneconomical or too infrequent to run the risk of sticking the pig in the flowline. OLGA
models the "slug" of wax pushed ahead of the pig.
PIGGING SCHEMATIC
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WAX REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES:

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ASSESSMENT OF WAX PROBLEM:
The process of assessment for a wax problem can be summarized in follows:
(i) Obtain a good sample
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(ii) Cloud point or WAT based on solid-liquid-equilibria

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(iii) Rheology: Viscosity, pour point, gel strength
(iv) Crude oil composition: standard oil composition, HTGC
(v) Wax deposition rates: cold finger or flow loop
(vi) Wax melting point
(vii) Consider the use of wax inhibitors.Strategies for
WAT - WAX Appearance Temperature
HTGC - High Temperature Gas Chromatography.Enhanced
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REFERENCES:
01. Notes for Unit-5 pdf.
02. PPT
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03. https://www.slb.com/resource-library/oilfield-review/defining-series/defining-coiled-tubing

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04. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe0BsBZwIzA
05. https://www.slideshare.net/FernandoPilamunga1/coiled-tubing-equipments-pdf

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THANKStrategies
YOU! for
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