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Effect of operating conditions on wax deposition in a laboratory flow loop characterized with DSC technique

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Abstract

In this paper, an experimental study about the influence of operating conditions in a laboratory flow loop on wax deposition phenomena by using DSC technique is presented. The operating conditions studied were oil temperature, wall temperature, temperature difference (between the bulk and the ambient), and flow velocity. Results were obtained and explained in terms of deposition rate and wax deposit composition (DSC curve shape). So that higher deposition rate was obtained for the following cases: oil temperature increasing, wall temperature decreasing, and at lower flow velocities. On the other hand, a wax deposit with heavier hydrocarbons was obtained when all the operating conditions evaluated were increased. These results will facilitate a better understanding of the physic of the wax deposition. Also, it will help in developing “hardness” model of the wax deposit, and thus provide a solid bearing on the pigging operation in petroleum industry.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by two grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51374224 and No. 51134006).

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  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Pipeline Safety/Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Oil and Gas Distribution Technology, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, People’s Republic of China

    Wenda Wang, Qiyu Huang, Changhui Wang, Si Li, Wenxing Qu, Jiadi Zhao & Manqiu He

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  1. Wenda Wang
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Correspondence to Qiyu Huang.

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Wang, W., Huang, Q., Wang, C. et al. Effect of operating conditions on wax deposition in a laboratory flow loop characterized with DSC technique. J Therm Anal Calorim 119, 471–485 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-014-3976-z

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