WAX PRECIPITATION AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS OF NIGERIAN CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION LINE

Abstract: The Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT) and Wax Content (WC) of wellhead, flowline and separator crude oil samples were studied. The propensity for the crude oil to precipitate wax due to temperature changes was assessed by measuring the WAT while the quantity of wax precipitated was measured by the WC at the various locations of the production line. The results showed that the WAT for each of the test samples was highest at the wellhead, followed by the flowline and the separator. The WC was also highest at the wellhead, followed by the flowline and the separator. The trend of WAT and WC were therefore in the order: wellhead > flowline > separator. This result implies that the Wax Precipitation Envelope (WPE) for crude oils may not be the same along the production line from the wellhead to the separator.

Keywords: Wax Precipitation, Heavy organics, Wax precipitation envelope, Wax appearance temperature (WAT), Wax content.