Environmentally acceptable surfactants applied for water-based paraffin control—novel technologies sustaining production of challenging Australian crudes

Abstract

The use of environmentally acceptable surfactants in water-based products—as opposed to hydrocarbon-based products—offers significant benefits both from an environmental and performance perspective. Water, being a polar solvent, has a very limited capacity to dissolve non-polar hydrocarbons; however, a new generation of environmentally acceptable, novel surfactants has allowed the development of water-based wax removal technology that effectively penetrates layers of waxy deposits, and dissolves and disperses the removed paraffin. A conspicuous property of this new water-based paraffin remover is its ability (similar to some corrosion inhibitors) to migrate over surfaces resulting in the treatment of deposits not originally wetted by the product. The continuous application of environmentally acceptable surfactants in multiphase transport systems has not only prevented paraffin deposit formation but also has allowed for the removal of persistent paraffin deposits. These new chemistries have had excellent success in many areas, including Australian production fields. Cooper Basin field studies have shown that the application of these surfactants have significantly increased production through reduced downtime during winter months where high wax content producing wells traditionally would shut down due to flow line restrictions. This paper will review the selection and the application of these new surfactants in two Australian field locations.