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A Survey on Mathematical Modelling of Deposition in Waxy Crude Oils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2011

A. Fasano ,
L. Fusi ,
S. Correra  and
M. Margarone
A. Fasano
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Matematica “U.Dini”- Viale Morgagni 67/a -50134 Firenze
L. Fusi*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Matematica “U.Dini”- Viale Morgagni 67/a -50134 Firenze
S. Correra
Affiliation:
eni exploration & production - Via Emilia 1 - 20097 S. Donato Milanese, Milano
M. Margarone
Affiliation:
eni exploration & production - Via Emilia 1 - 20097 S. Donato Milanese, Milano
*
⋆ Corresponding author. E-mail: fusi@math.unifi.it
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Abstract

Waxy Crude Oils (WCO’s) are characterized by the presence of heavy paraffins in sufficiently large concentrations. They exhibit quite complex thermodynamical and rheological behaviour and present the peculiar property of giving rise to the formation of segregated wax deposits, when temperature falls down the so called WAT, or Wax Appearance Temperature. In extreme cases, segregated waxes may lead to pipeline occlusion due to deposition on cold walls. In this paper we review the mathematical models formulated to describe: (i) wax cystallization or thawing in cooling/heating cycles; (ii) the mechanisms of mass transport in saturated non-isothermal solutions; (iii) the experimental device used to measure wax solubility and wax diffusivity; (iv) wax deposition in pipelines carrying a warm, wax-saturated WCO through cold regions; (v) wax deposition accompanied by gelification during the cooling of a WCO under a thermal gradient.

Keywords

waxy crude oilsmolecular diffusionmathematical modelsfree boundary problems
Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Modelling of Natural Phenomena , Volume 6 , Issue 5: Complex Fluids , 2011 , pp. 157 - 183
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2011

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