Abstract: In the petroleum industry, still a major problem is the deposition of paraffin wax especially during exploitation in Deepwater field. This study is aimed at characterizing crude oil sample, understanding the characteristic of paraffin wax and testing the solubility of the precipitated wax in xylene and kerosene at different blend ratios. The crude oil sample which was obtained from Eleme community in Niger Delta, Nigeria, was characterized and the cloud point and pour point were obtained as 20oC and 12oC respectively. Results obtained from the solubility test shows that 100% Xylene dissolves 99.4% of the precipitated wax in 150 min and 90.1 % in 90 min. While for same quantity 100% kerosene shows solubility of 35.4% in 150 min and 26.2% in 90 min which implies that xylene although expensive is a better solvent for paraffin wax cleanup when compared to kerosene. At different xylene – kerosene blend ratios, the blend of 70:30%, Xylene: Kerosene mixture also gave an excellent result, far from the one obtainable in the 50:50%, and in very close proximity with the 80:20% blend. This indicates that Kerosene which is cheap and readily available when blended with xylene, an excellent solvent can be used on an industrial scale for the cleanup or dissolution of wax deposit in a cost effective and efficient manner.
Keywords: Wax, Paraffin, Chemical, Remediation, Eleme, Xylene, Solvent, Pipeline, Deposition.
Title: EFFECTS AND REMEDIATION OF WAX IN OIL PIPELINE AND EQUIPMENT USING A SAMPLE OF NIGER DELTA CRUDE OIL
Author: Peter Edimeh, Mukhtar Abdulkadir
International Journal of Engineering Research and Reviews
ISSN 2348-697X (Online)
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