A Survey on Mathematical Modelling of Deposition in Waxy Crude Oils

Fasano, Antonio; Fusi, Lorenzo; Correra, S.; Margarone, Michele

doi:10.1051/mmnp/20116508

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 29 publications

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“…The measurement of the deposition dynamics shows that the layers thickness grows with time in a well-known logarithmic manner (Figure 10), which has been comprehensively modeled in many papers. 7,18,19,45,46,65,66 After a certain period of time the growth almost stops, but the relaxation profiles shows that the T 2 values continue to decrease, Figure 7.…”

Section: Energy and Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insight into the Wax Precipitation Process: In Situ NMR Imaging Study in a Cold Finger Cell

2016

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A cold finger cell intended for the wax deposition measurements was fabricated and integrated into an NMR imaging probe for the noninvasive study of wax precipitation processes in situ. The cell was first tested with a model system; then, a series of experiments with different thermal gradients applied to the cell were performed for a waxy crude oil. NMR imaging of the operating cell revealed the formation of a deposit with the morphology and dynamics strongly correlating with the temperature regime. At higher temperatures of cold finger, the incipient wax gel ages uniformly, giving rise to the hard and thin inner layer of deposit accompanied by a branched loosely consolidated outer layer. Conversely, the lower temperatures facilitate formation of a thick deposit which no longer ages uniformly and slow down the diffusion-controlled growth of the branched deposit structure. The results obtained are consistent with the majority of the data previously reported. Thus, gelation of the wax at temperatures below the cloud point and subsequent thermal-driven diffusion processes are considered to be the dominant mechanisms of the deposit formation. The counter diffusion and Ostwald ripening aging concepts were found to be relevant in the case of the cold finger study and account for the phenomena observed in this work. The information obtained via NMR imaging is highly complementary to the results obtained by other techniques that can aid in understanding the essential processes behind the wax precipitation phenomena. The approach developed can be effectively extended to study any thermal-driven phase separation process.

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