SPE 71471
Large Scale Field Gathering of Oil-Water-Gas at Temperature Below the Pour Point of
Crude Oil Successful
Wang Demin, Song Chengyi, Gong Xiaohong, Cheng Jiecheng, Li Qun, Wu Di / Daqing Oil Company Limited
Copyright 2001, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2001 SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition held in New Orleans, Louisiana, 30 September–3 October 2001.
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Abstract
Gathering of Oil-water-gas mixtures in oil fields is usually
performed on condition that the gathering temperature is
above the pour point of the crude oil or above the paraffin
precipitation temperature. Therefore, all the mixtures that are
gathered are in a fluid state (liquid and gas). However, when
gathering crude oil that has a high pour point and high paraffin
precipitation temperature in cold regions, the mixture must be
heated to maintain the high temperature and a large amount of
energy is consumed.
Daqing Oil Field experimented on a large scale (2,300 wells)
in the field the gathering of oil-gas-water at temperatures
lower than the crude oil pour point, which means that the
mixture is gathered simultaneously as a sticky solid (crude oil),
gas and liquid (water). This paper introduces the results in the
laboratory of adding a Fluid Phase Conversion Agent into the
mixture and the characteristics of the mixture at different
temperatures. The paper also introduces the field results of
adding a Phase Conversion Agent to the gathered fluid, the
problems that arose and how they were solved.
The field results of gathering produced fluids from more than
2,300 wells are very good. The gathering of produced fluids
proceeded normally, energy consumption and gathering costs
were lowered. At the same time, some actual data on the
rheology of simultaneous gathering of a sticky solid, liquid
and gas was obtained.
Introduction
At present, most oil fields gather oil-gas-water at temperatures
above the crude oil pour point or even above the paraffin
precipitation point, otherwise the crude oil would stick to the
gathering pipe walls and block it up.
In cold regions (for instance, the temperature of Daqing in
winter is –30~-40ഒ), when gathering high pour point crude
oil (the pour point of Daqing crude is 25~35ഒ), the oil-gas-
water mixture must be heated above its pour point, sometimes
above the paraffin precipitation point. When heating the fluid
mixture, a large amount of energy (electricity, oil or gas) is
consumed. For example, on the average 10~12 m3 of natural
gas is burnt to heat up a ton of crude oil in the gathered fluid
in Daqing. At the same time, the cost of gathering the crude
oil mixture increases.
In the lab and field, Daqing experimented to add Fluid Phase
Conversion Agents into the gathered fluid mixture to see if the
crude oil mixture could be gathered and transferred at
temperatures below the crude oil pour point. This paper
introduces the results of the experiments in the lab and field.
Results of Experiments in the Lab
Emulsification characteristics. When the water cut is below
60%, the crude oil and water produced from wells is a mixture
with oil as the outer phase. When the water cut is above 60%,
the fluid is a mixture with water as the outer phase. The
emulsions in the mixture are quite stable.
After a certain amount (about 50~150mg/L) of Fluid Phase
Conversion Agent is added to the produced fluid mixture and
the water cut is below 40%, it is a mixture with oil as the outer
phase. When the water cut is above 40%, water is the outer
phase. The oil-water mixture is not stable, in less than 30
minutes, by gravity, the oil and water are basically
totally separated.
The above shows that to gather the oil-water mixture and not
have the oil stick to the wall of the steel pipe, the water cut of
the mixture, when using Conversion Agent, should be at least
higher than 40%.
Changes in the Wall Sticking Temperature. This is a very
important parameter to determine if the fluid mixture can be
gathered at a lower temperature. When the temperature is
below the pour point, the crude oil turns into a sticky solid. If
it is dispersed in the water and gas with water as the outer
phase and it does not stick to the wall of the steel pipe, then
low temperature fluid gathering might be realized; if the crude
oil sticks to the pipe wall, than the gathering pipeline will be
plugged up.
2 WANG DEMIN, SONG CHENGYI, GONG XIAOHONG, CHENG JIECHENG, LI QUN, WU DI
Method to determine the Wall Sticking Temperature:
1) Heat the oil, water and rotating wheel to a temperature 15
ഒ above the pour point of the crude. Maintain this
temperature for 30 minutes;
2) Start to turn the rotating wheel. The rotating speed is
determined by the velocity of the fluid in the
gathering pipeline;
3) After rotating for 60 minutes, lower the temperature of the
system at a speed of 10ഒ/h until it reaches 0ഒ, at the
same time record the temperature and torque force of
the wheel;
4) Add different amounts of Conversion Agents into the
crude-water mixture, repeat the above steps;
5) Draw relation curves from the data (Fig. 1)
The temperature at which the torque force increases rapidly
is the Wall Sticking Temperature. The effect of different
Conversion Agents and different concentrations is shown in
Table 1 and Figure 2.
From the above table and figure it can be seen that before the
Conversion Agent is added, the Wall Sticking Temperature of
the mixture is about equal to the crude oil pour point. After
adding about 50 mg/L of the Conversion Agent into the fluid
mixture, the Wall Sticking Temperature is markedly lower (for
Daqing crude, it is about 15ഒ below the pour point). However,
increasing the concentration of the Agent in the mixture does
not have much effect on further decreasing the Sticking
Temperature. Therefore, it might be possible to add only a
small amount of the Agent into the mixture and realize the
gathering of oil-water-gas at temperatures below the crude oil
pour point.
Changes in Oil Droplet Coalescent Temperature. Method to
determine the Oil Droplet Coalescent Temperature:
1) Add crude oil, water and the chemical agent into a
beaker with a magnetic agitator;
2) Heat the system up to 5ഒ above the crude oil pour
point. Agitate the mixture;
3) When agitating, gradually lower the temperature and
observe when oil droplets appear in the mixture. The
corresponding temperature is the Oil Droplet
Coalescent Temperature.
The results are shown in Figure 3.
It can be seen that:
1) When no chemical agents are added, the coalescent
temperature of Daqing crude oil is about 3~5ഒ higher
than its pour point;
2) After adding about 50mg/L of the Conversion Agent, the
coalescent temperature decreases about 8~10 ഒ (5 ഒ
below the pour point), but still 10 ഒ above the wall
sticking temperature;
3) After oil droplets are formed, further lowering the
temperature will cause the droplets to grow larger rapidly
SPE 71471
until it coalesces into a single blob of solid crude oil. If
the temperature is still above the Sticking Temperature,
the solid crude oil blob will not stick to the steel pipe wall,
but there must be no restrictions in the gathering pipeline,
otherwise the solid crude oil blob could block the pipeline
at the restriction.
De-emulsification Characteristics. The effect of adding
Conversion Agents to the oil-water mixture is shown in
Table 2.
From Table 2 it can be seen that the Fluid Phase Conversion
Agent is a good de-emulsifier. After standing 30 minutes, the
water cut in the separated oil is 3.9~22.2%, the oil
concentration in the separated water is 130~160 mg/L. The
separated oil can go directly to the dehydrator to obtain crude
oil that can to the market (water cut less than 0.3%). The
separated water can go directly to a wastewater treating plant
to obtain water that can be re-injected into the formation.
In summary, when the water cut of the fluid is higher than
40%, and when a certain amount of Conversion Agent is
added, for temperatures above the crude oil pour point, both
oil and water are liquid and a mixture with water as the outer
phase is formed. When the temperature is between the pour
point and coalescent temperature, crude oil is solid, water is a
liquid, still forming a dispersed fluid with water as the outer
phase. When the temperature is between the coalescent and
sticking temperature, the crude oil coalesces into a single solid
blob of oil, but the blob of oil does not stick to the pipe wall.
When the temperature is below the sticking temperature, the
solid oil blob will stick to the pipe wall and plug the
pipeline up.
Results in the Field
Field tests started in 1997. A certain amount (concentration of
50~150 mg/L, the concentration was calculated as amount of
Agent added to the fluid mixture divided by amount of crude
oil in the fluid) of Conversion Agent was added to the
gathered fluid mixture to lower the gathering temperature,
sometimes the temperature was even lower than the crude oil
pour point. In year 2000, more than 2,300 wells were using
this method to gather the produced fluid. A schematic of the
gathering system is shown in Figure 4.
Mainly two methods were used to add the Agent to the
gathered fluid mixture. One method is to add water containing
the Agent by a tracing pipe into the produced fluid; the other
is to add the Agent by dripping it down the tubing-casing
annulus and then produce the mixture though the tubing. The
results are shown in Table 3.
It can be seen that:
1. The temperature of the mixing water added to the produced
fluid was lowered about 25ഒ
Before the Agent was added, the temperature of the
mixing water was 45~80 ഒ , average of 65 ഒ . After
 LARGE SCALE FIELD GATHERING OF OIL-WATER-GAS AT TEMPERATURE BELOW
SPE 71471 THE POUR POINT OF CRUDE OIL SUCCESSFUL
adding the Agent, the temperature was 35~45ഒ, average
of 40ഒ.
2. The temperature of the gathered fluid at the metering
station was lowered by about 12ഒ
Before the Agent was added, the temperature was about
38~45 ഒ , average 42 ഒ . After adding the Agent, the
temperature was 23~37ഒ, average 30ഒ.
3. The consumption of gas to heat the fluid system was
lowered by 6.57m3 gas per ton of crude oil gathered
Before it was 14.73m3; after adding the agent it was 8.16m3.
4. After the producers stopped pumping for 4 hours, it can still
be restarted and gather the produced fluid as usual
The data of four producers that stopped pumping for more
than 4 hours and then restarted to pump is shown in Table 4
and Figure 5.
It can be seen that after restarting to pump the producers, the
highest tubing pressure was 1.93 MPa. At most, after 30
minutes the pressure returned to normal (equal to the tubing
pressure before stopping the pump).
5. The operating conditions of the transfer pipeline going out
of the metering station are shown in Table 5.
It can be seen that after the transferring temperature was
lowered by 12ഒ, the operation conditions at the station was
still normal, the transferring pressure did not increase.
6. The conditions of the centrifugal pumps operating at lower
temperatures are shown in Table 6.
It can be seen that the centrifugal pumps can operate
normally at a low temperature. The pressure, electric current
and efficiency of the pumps were practically constant. In the
lab, when the transferring temperature was above 26ഒ (the oil
droplet coalescent temperature), the transfer pumps could
operate normally.
7. The operating conditions of the pipeline going out of the
transfer station are shown in Table 7.
It can be seen that after the temperature of the transferred
fluid dropped from 42~43 ഒ to 33~35 ഒ , the pipeline
operation was normal, the pressure at the transfer station was
practically constant. The longest length of the transfer pipeline
was 2.9 km, which shows that the Conversion Agent can be
affective over a rather long distance.
8. Conditions of oil-water separation at the flow station
When the temperature of the separating fluid mixture was
lowered from 40ഒ (with the original de-emulsifier added) to
32ഒ (the original de-emulsifier was not added but substituted
by the Conversion Agent), after gravity segregation, the water
cut in the separated oil was lowered from 10% to 2~3%; The
oil concentration in the separated water was lowered from
1,000 mg/L to 200~300 mg/L. This shows that the Conversion
Agent has good de-emulsifying properties at low temperatures.
3
9.Results of dripping the Agent down the
tubing-casing annulus
When the Agent was dripped into the well and the pump
submergence was less than 100 m, the pumping wells did not
need to be periodically de-waxed and the surface gathering of
the produced fluid was normal. When the pump submergence
was more than 100 m, some wells had to be periodically de-
waxed and the gathering of the produced fluid at the surface
was not normal (the tubing pressure increased). This is
because Daqing crude has a high pour point, when the pump
submergence is high, some crude oil at the top gets very
viscous or solidifies, therefore the Agent dripped down the
annulus cannot continuously reach the pump intake and be
produced. When there is no Agent in the tubing, paraffin
precipitates in the tubing and crude oil sticks to the wall of the
gathering pipeline.
Conclusions
1. When the water cut is above 40%, adding a certain
amount of Fluid Phase Conversion Agent (about
50~150 mg/L, calculated by the amount of oil in the
fluid) into the oil-water mixture can form a fluid
mixture with water as the outer phase. When the
temperature is between the pour point and Sticking
Temperature of the crude oil, the crude oil will
solidify but will not stick to the wall of the pipeline.
2. The Fluid Phase Conversion Agent is a good de-
emulsifier at quite a broad range of temperature.
3. The field results of more than 2,300 producers show
that after adding 50~150 mg/L of the Agent, just so
that the temperature is above the Sticking
Temperature, produced fluid can be normally
gathered from the well-head to the metering station
to the transfer station and then to the flow station.
The pressure and pressures drop at different
locations are about the same as that of high
temperature gathering. Large scale gathering in the
oil field of produced fluid at temperatures below the
crude oil pour point was achieved.
4. When the pump submergence was less than 100 m
(or if the Agent can continuously reach the pump
intake), dripping the Agent down the annulus
inhibited the precipitation of paraffin in the tubing.
5. In Daqing, due to the decrease in the gathering
temperature, the consumption of natural gas for fluid
gathering decreased about 50%. This is beneficial to
the conservation of gas and lowering the cost of
gathering produced fluids.
6. This method of gathering produced fluid mixtures
can be of reference value to oil fields that have high
pour point crude oil and are situated in cold regions.
4 WANG DEMIN, SONG CHENGYI, GONG XIAOHONG, CHENG JIECHENG, LI QUN, WU DI SPE 71471

Table 1 Wall Sticking Temperature of Sanan Crude Oil

Agent Wall Sticking Temperature, ഒ
0g/t 50g/t 100g/t 150g/t
QS-1 29.1 14.0 16.0 14.0
CJB 29.1 16.0 18.0 17.0
DOE-3 29.1 14.0 16.0 16.0
RTPP 29.1 17.0 16.0 13.8

Table 2 De-emulsification Results

De-emulsification Results at 30 min.
Concentration
Agent Water Cut of Oil Concen. of Oil in Water Oil-Water Interface
(mg/L)
(%) (mg/L)
50 13.2 136.5 Even
DOE-4 100 9.7 147.9 Even
150 8.2 134.6 Even
200 6.1 155.5 Even
50 13.1 149.8 Even
CJB 100 11.2 161.2 Even
150 11.8 159.3 Even
200 9.8 151.7 Even, Stick to wall
50 22.2 144.1 Even
DOE-3 100 8.2 153.6 Even
150 6.3 132.7 Even
200 3.9 140.3 Even
Blank 0 46.7 500 Un-even

Table 3 Results of Field Testing of Conver. Agent

Temp. of Temp. at Consumption of
Transfer No. Mixing Water, ഒ Metering Station, ഒ Gas per Ton Oil, m3/t Gas Saved
Station of Well per Ton Oil,
After Agent After Agent Blank After Agent
m3/t
Blank Added Blank Added Added
404 80 70 37 45 33 10.13 2.89 7.24
405 66 70 37 45 33 7.17 2.39 4.78
Z16 76 70 45 33 9.59 0 9.59
SX6 54 60 42 39 33 18.4 5.84 12.56
1002 78 76 35 43 36 11.58 4.31 7.27
2301 38 76 37 44 25 13.1 5.81 7.29
TN4 75 70 40 45 23 33.1 16.09 17.01
L4 137 80 40 40 35 27.0 11.0 16.0
 LARGE SCALE FIELD GATHERING OF OIL-WATER-GAS AT TEMPERATURE BELOW
SPE 71471 THE POUR POINT OF CRUDE OIL SUCCESSFUL 5

Table 4 Results of Re-starting the Pumping Wells

Well No. X-34 X-121 X-120 X-J3-121
Date 26/03/2000 26/03/2000 27/03/2000 27/03/2000
Fluid. Prod. Rate (t/d) 86 45 63 86
Water Cut (%) 92.6 77.1 78.3 83.1
Specs. of Pipeline, ϕ×δ (mm) 76×3.5 60×3.5 60×3.5 60×3.5
Length of Pipeline (m) 483 326 488 347
Shut-down Time 6h2min. 4h34min. 4h35min. 4h59min.
Highest Tubing Pressure (MPa) 0.92 1.48 1.93 0.95

Table 5 Condition of Transport Pipeline out of Metering station

Specification Remark
No. Metering Station 17
Specs. of Trans.Pipeline, ϕ×δ (mm) 159×5~219×6
Length of Pipeline (m) 620~1460
Fluid Trans. (t/d) 25.5~93.9
Water Cut (%) 82.5~89.9
Before 38~45
Temperature (ഒ) After Agent Added 30~36
Before 0.30~0.45
Pressure of Metering Station
After Agent Added 0.30~0.45

Table 6 Condition of Centrifugal Pumps

Results
Transfer Station 12# 13# 15#
Type of Pump YD-80 KYT-150 KYT-150
High Temperature 2330 3047 3408
Fluid Pumped (t/d)
Low Temperature 2350 3082 3333
High Temperature 83 87.9 86.4
Water Cut (%)
Low Temperature 84 88.0 89.1
High Temperature 0.70 1.60 1.40
Pump Pressure (Mpa)
Low Temperature 0.65 1.50 1.30
High Temperature 60 140 140
Electrical Current (A)
Low Temperature 62 140 140
High Temperature 54.13 54.68 54.89
Pump Efficiency (%)
Low Temperature 54.59 55.67 55.51

Table 7 Condition of Pipeline Outside Transfer Station

Results
Transfer Station 12# 13# 15#
Specification of of Pipeline, ϕ×δ (mm) 273×6 273×6 219×6
Length of Pipeline(m) 2900 2000 1100
High Temperature 2250 2984 3473
Fluid Pumped (t/d)
Low Temperature 2250 2988 2764
High Temperature 84.0 88.2 86.4
Water Cut (%)
Low Temperature 84.0 87.9 88.9
High Temperature 42 43 42
Temperature (ഒ) Low Temperature 33 33 35
Pressure at Transfer High Temperature 0.38 0.30 0.38
Station (Mpa) Low Temperature 0.42 0.32 0.40
6 WANG DEMIN, SONG CHENGYI, GONG XIAOHONG, CHENG JIECHENG, LI QUN, WU DI SPE 71471
 40
Average Torque After Adding Agent
10% Peak Torque After Adding Agent
Torque, Nm

Blank Average Torque

Blank 10% Peak Torque
30

20

10

0
10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Temp. of Fluid In the Wheel, ഒ

Fig.1 Torque at Different Temperature

 
Legend
Wall Sticking Temp. rC

46
'2'(





    
Concen. of Agent, mg/L

Fig.2 Wall Sticking Temperature of Crude Oil From No.5 Oil Prod. Co.
 

Coalescent Temp.ഒ
Legend
5733

46
'2'(




    
Concen. of Agent, mg/L

Fig. 3 Oil Droplet Coalescent Temp. of Crude Oil from No. 5 Prod. Co.
 Producer
Metering
Station
Metering
Station
Transfer
Station

Flow
Transfer Station
Station

Transfer
Station

Fig. 4 Schematic Drawing of Gathering System

 2
;
Tubing Pressure (MPa)

;-
1.6
;-
;
1.2

0.8

0.4

0
       
Time (min.)

Fig. 5 Pressure Curve After Re-start of Pumping

40

30

20

10

0
10 15 20 25 30 35 40