FLOW MAPS DEVELOPMENT FOR WAX DEPOSITION MONITORING

M.Bonuccelli, V.Faluomi (TEA Group, Italy)

C. Carniani (ENI-AGIP, Italy)

ABSTRACT

When the temperature of a production pipeline (at least at the inner pipe wall) goes below
the WAT value (Wax Apparence Temperature) wax deposition rate is likely to occur.

In these cases, in addition to suitable flow assurance studies aimed at the definition of the
prevention/mitigation/remedial strategies, a continuous monitoring of the actual flow
conditions in the pipeline is advisable in order to:

• Follow the real reservoir depletion trend, avoiding any error due to production
decrease caused by pipeline inner diameter reduction.

• Schedule the pigging operations and optimize the chemical injection rate.

Several monitoring tecniques have been developed characterized by different degrees of

complexity. A very simple and low-cost technique is proposed in the presented paper, which
makes use of flow maps generated with fluid dynamic multiphase simulation tool, already
used for flow assurance analyses on hydrocarbon pipelines. The maps predict the wax
deposition thickness associated to a given combination of pressure drop and production
flowrate.

The maps have to be generated with a qualified and accurate simulation tool, which also
takes into account the rheological characteristics of the involved fluid.

In particular, the map setup requires the evaluation of fluid transport under non-
newtonian conditions. In fact, when the oil temperature drops below the cloud point, wax
nucleation and crystallization causes the oil to assume pseudoplastic behavior. In this case the
viscosity decreases as shear-rate increases, and this behavior is temperature sensitive. If
temperature decreases the oil reaches a more marked non newtonian behavior.

In general it is very difficult to consider the non-newtonian behavior of oil during the
design phase of a multiphase transportation line, due to the lack of specific computational
tools and design guidelines. In this paper a procedure making use of a computer code
(developed for newtonian oils), coupled with guidelines for a correct characterization of the
fluid viscosity, provide a more accurate description of flow in transportation line.

INTRODUCTION

Wax deposition monitoring is a key task for heavy wax fluid production and
transportation. Flowline restriction due to wax deposition can heavily affect production
capabilities of a transportation system, therefore an appropriate management strategy for wax
control is required. The most common way to control and remove wax deposition is the
pigging procedure. This procedure is, however, risky related to the fact that if pig diameter is
not optimised, pigging might be ineffective (too small diameter) or critical (line blockage du
to too large pig diameter used).

In this frame a quick methodology to predict and estimate actial wax content into a
flowline is required to optimize:

- pigging frequency and pig dimensions

- chemical treatment effectiveness

The main characteristic of such methodology have to be the following:

- fast enough to be used in nearly real time

- easy to reproduce for different operative conditions

- easy to include in the operative procedures and to be understood by operative people

In the following sections will be described a methodology which fulfil the

aforementioned requirements, methodology which has successfully applied in several ENI oil
field in the last three years

CALCULATION METHODOLOGY

Requirements and Assumptions

The wax deposition monitoring methodology is based on the following assumptions:

- wax deposition diameter is constant into the flowline

 - wax deposition will take place starting from the location where temperature drops
down the WAT, and ends where heat flux from flowline to the external environment
is zero

- wax deposition occurs only during steady state conditions

- pressure drop increase (from no deposition conditions) are totally due to deposition
effects

Moreover, the following basic data are required to perform the simulations needed to
evaluate deposition amount:

- detailed flowline geometry, inner diameter and coating layer characteristics

- inlet and outlet conditions, in terms of pressure and flowrate

- production tests at “clean” flowline (no deposition) conditions and after deposition
take place

- complete PVT and rheological study for the considered fluid

Finally, the use of a best estimate multiphase code to simulate flowline behaviour is
required to obtain reliable data to be elaborate to evaluate the realistic deposition
thickness

Methodology
The main steps to get realistic wax deposition evaluation with the presented method are
the following:

- fluid characterization: to speed up code simulations, non newtonian effects are

incorporated into fluid data, rather than use a non Newtonian code. This implies a
post processing fluid data phase, which provide correct fluid table to the multiphase
code, taking into account non Newtonian effect due to wax formation

- model tuning: using production tests and the fluid characterization, production tests
will be simulated and a inner diameter reduction will be evaluated to match field
results

- deposition length determination: after production data simulation, for each of the
considered cases two point will be identified in the flowline:
 - WAT point (where the bulk temperature reaches WAT)

- Zero flux point (where the heat flux from fluid to the environment is zero)

Deposition is assumed to take place only between these points, than once this length
is identified, a new deposition thickness will be calculated assuming diameter
reduction only between the above points

- Flow map definition : once the simulation model has been tuned matching the
production data, sensitivity calculations for different flowrates and different diameter
reductions (i.e. deposition thickness) will be performed. At the end of this activity, a
flow map will be generated where the deposition thickness for a given pressure drop
and flowrate is identified

Flow Characterization
When the oil temperature drops down the cloud point. the wax nucleation requires the
simulation of hydrocarbons fluid transport in a non-Newtonian conditions. In fact, the wax
crystallization brings the oil to a pseudo plastic behavior. In these conditions viscosity
increases as shear rate decreases due to the value of the temperature reached: for little values,
the oil has a more marked non-Newtonian behavior.

For each production rates it is possible to evaluate an equivalent shear rate value related
to an oil flow rate value. In this case it is possible to simulate the non-Newtonian behavior of
the fluid with a Newtonian oil with equivalent viscosity. It is required an exhaustive set of
measured rheological data performed on the involved fluid to evaluate the function
interpolating versus flowrate (shear rate) and temperature the apparent viscosity values.

Reporting on a graph the apparent viscosity trends versus the shear rate, for different
temperatures, it is possible to determine some interpolating functions, as reported in Fig. 1.
The dependence on the shear rate is usually best interpolated with a power law function:

µ = a (Sr)b (1)

The a and b parameters obviously result to be dependent on the temperature. Concerning

the shear rate, considering a flow rate Q m3/s, is given from:

4Q
Sr = (2)
πR 3
 where R is the pipe radius.

Equation (2) can be corrected by the Rabinowitsch correction factor that take in account
the non-Newtonian behavior:

4Q  3n + 1 
Sr =   (3)
πR 3  4n 

where n is defined by:

 ∆p ⋅ R 
d ⋅ log 
n=  2L 
(4)
 4Q 
d ⋅ log 3 
 πR 

Anyway applying the relation (2) or (3) is correct only for mono phase flow of stabilized
oil. Those conditions are not usually in the petroleum transportation systems, where the
standard is the multi phase flow of mixture of oil, water and gas (three-phase flow).

If the pipeline is interested in water-oil flow (without gas), it is correct to consider that
there is no slip by the two phases, and then to consider that the Q value from relation (2) is:

Q = Qo + Qw (5)

and to calculate the shear rate as for mono phase fluid.

100.0

90.0 T = 45 °C
-0.8462
y = 800.81x
80.0 T = 35 °C

70.0 T = 25 °C
Apparent Viscosity (CP)

60.0 T=15°C

50.0
-0.054
y = 7.9483x
40.0
-0.0194
y = 9.5535x
30.0

20.0

y = 5.21
10.0

0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Shear Rate (s-1)

Fig. 1 - Viscosity versus shear rate for different temperatures

 Evaluation of equivalent wax thickness
A sensitivity study is required to evaluate the dependence on the wax thickness along the
tube (assumed constant all over the line) of the pressure drop with different flow rates.

The objective of these calculations was the generation of an exhaustive database

necessary for the development of the deposition maps linking the value of pressure drop, oil
flowrate and depositions thickness.

For sake of simplicity all the calculations have been performed assuming a constant
(average) deposition thickness along the flowline. In the following, from the average
deposition value, a more real value has been estimated identifying the flowline section where
the deposition was possible.

From these values the evaluation of the real amount of wax along the pipelines and its
local deposition have been made on the basis of the following criteria:

• The wax formation and following deposition begins when the wall temperature
reaches the Cloud Point temperature value Tcloud .

• The wax deposition stops when the heat flux Hflux is equal to zero

From these considerations it is possible to know the wax deposition length. To evaluate
the real wax deposition thickness the simplest (one-phase) fanning relation to estimate the
pressure losses can be used:

L
∆p= 2 fρv 2 (6)
D

where:

f : Fanning factor

ρ: density

v: fluid velocity

L: transportation line length

D: tube diameter
 Because should be ∆ptc=∆ptrue, where ∆ptc is pressure losses considering the wax
deposition constant in pipeline while ∆ptrue is the pressure value with the real wax thickness
G
and introducing in the formula (6) the mass flow rate G as v= we obtained:
ρ ⋅S

Ltot L L
5
= d5 + nowax (7)
Dm Dd D05

where:

Ltot: total length of pipeline;

Ld: wax deposition length;

Lnowax: no wax deposition length;

D0: nominal diameter;

Dd: real diameter due to wax deposition;

Dm: average diameter considering the wax distributed all over the line;

From formula (7) it’s possible to estimate Dd, the real diameter due to wax deposition
given from the following formula:

Dm5 ⋅ D05
Dd= Ld ⋅
(Ltot D05 − Lnowax Dm5 ) (8)

Determination of deposition flow map

The maps generated using the above mentioned procedure are not really useful for the
identification of the wax thickness from the sealine flow data. The definition of a flow
function interpolating the data generated by OLGA will permit the creation of the correct flow
map of the line.

The best interpolating functions (“flow function”) which provide wax thickness versus
pressure and flowrate can be defined as follow:

∆p = f (Q, s) (9)

From the results of methodology application the best function is:

 ∆p = a(Q) s 2 + c(Q ) (10)

The coefficients a and c are also interpolated by a polynomial function versus mass flow
rate and they are expressed by the following equations:

a=AQ2 + BQ + C (11)

c= A’Q2 + B’Q + C’ (12)

The equations 9 and 10 represents a flow function, applicable for considered production
system, supplying the relation between the pressure losses, liquid flowrate and wax thickness.
These functions will be then used to create the deposition flow maps

METHODOLOGY RESULTS

The results of the proposed methodology are summarised in the Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 The two
maps are related to the following transportation systems:

- flowline with imposed inlet pressure (i.e. after a separator)

- flowline connected with a producing well

In the first case (Fig. 2) using the deposition map it is possible to estimate the real amount
of wax in the transportation system for a wide range of values of pressure and mass flowrate,
for a given (and fixed) inlet pressure. The use of the map is rather simple: once a flowline
pressure drop is measured, crossing that pressure drop with the actual flowrate will result in
the evaluation of the estimated deposition thickness

In the latter, (Fig. 3) the inlet flowline pressure is varying due to the well natural
depletion. In this case, the deposition map will be used to evaluate if a given pressure drop is
related to well depletion or wax deposition. The flowline pressure drop during production
conditions will be recorded, together with the related flowrate. The pressure drop – flowrate
trend will be then compared with the curves on the Fig. 3, to evaluate the occurrence and the
amount of deposition
 2400 thickness 0mm

thickness 5mm
2200
thickness 10mm

2000 thickness 15mm

thickness 20mm
1800
thickness 25mm

1600 thickness 30mm

thickness 35mm
1400
thickness 40mm
∆p (PSIA)

1200 thickness 45mm

thickness 50mm
1000
thickness 55mm

thickness 60mm
800
thickness 65mm
600 thickness 70mm

thickness 75mm
400
thickness 80mm

200

0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000 50000 55000
Mass Flow Rate (SBPD)

Fig 2 : Wax deposition flow map for flowline transportation system

Fig 3 : Wax deposition flow map for well-flowline integrated system

 CONCLUSIONS

The main result of the presented study is the development of a so called deposition maps,
applicable both for single flowline as well as integrated (well – flowline) system, correlating the
following main parameters:

• The pressure drop across the flowline (also taking into account natural depletion)

• The oil flowrate

• The wax deposition thickness

The wax deposition takes into account of the real pipeline section where the conditions for the
deposition are satisfy on the basis of the following criteria:

• The wall temperature is lower than the WAT value.

• The heat transfer is higher than zero

The deposition map permits a quick evaluation of the wax thickness from the standard
production data and gives an idea to the operators of the real amount of wax along the pipeline. In
fact from a calculated value of pressure for a given production mass flow, from the diagram
corresponds a certain value of wax thickness. In this case the operators, if the wax amount is to high
along the line, will provide to a pigging operation to reduce the pressure losses.

Of course, the results reported in the flow map are relevant to a given set of boundary data and
a given fluid composition. If these data will significantly vary, the procedure described in this report
must be repeated generating an update flow map version.

The solution to avoid the above limitation is to make use, in place of a fixed map, of a
multiphase steady-state model managed by an main routine able to identify the actual wax thickness
on the basis of the actual pressure losses and liquid production, integrated with the plant acquisition
system in order to supply an on-line prediction of the wax deposition thickness directly reading, in
real time, the pressure drop and production rate.

REFERENCES

1. Scandpower, PVTOLv2.4 User Manual, 1999.

2. Scandpower, “Olga 2000 vers. 3.00 User’s Manual”
3. H.P. Ronningsen, “Rheological Behaviour of Gelled , Waxy North Sea Crude Oils” Journal of
Petroleum Science and Engineering, 7 177-213, 1992.
4. R.B. Bird, W.E. Stewart, E.N. Lightfoot, “Transport Phenomena”, 1960.