Principles of Wax Deposition and Its Impact on Oil Production

Wax deposition is a critical operational challenge to the oil industry.  Waxy components in crude oils represent a group of normal alkanes with carbon numbers greater than 20.  These components are normally dissolved in oil at elevated temperature and pressure, such as under reservoir conditions.  However, as the crude oil leaves the reservoir and travels towards processing facilities, its temperature and pressure can decrease substantially, causing waxy components to precipitate.  Precipitation of wax can lead to deposition on the tubing, pipelines and process equipment and thereby posing severe risks on oil production and transportation.  As early as in 1928, wax deposition was reported as a “one of the most troublesome problems in the production of crude oils”.  This talk will discuss the governing chemical engineering principles in wax deposition phenomena as well as how these principles can be applied to understand wax deposition and to provide guidelines to the remediation of waxy deposition risks.