A Self-Sufficient Wax Deposition Model for Horizontal Gas-Oil Slug Flow

A wax deposition model based on the laboratory flow loop experiments was developed, validated, and explained in detail in this study.  The circumferential area is discretized into top and bottom parts to capture the non-axisymmetric of wax deposition behaviors.  The deposit is assumed to be smooth and traps no gas inside.  The physical unknown constants used in the model to capture the non-conventional deposition mechanism are introduced.  The practical closure relationships of these unknown constants were developed by using Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm with 2-in flow loop deposit thickness and wax fraction data, where Garden Banks condensate was used as a testing fluid.  This model with closure relationships serves as a self-sufficient predictive tool improved over previous self- and non-self-sufficient wax deposition prediction models.