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A fundamental wax deposition model for water‐in‐oil dispersed flows in subsea pipelines
Author(s) -
Zheng Sheng,
Fogler H. Scott,
HajiAkbari Amir
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.15750
Subject(s) - wax , subsea , pipeline transport , deposition (geology) , petroleum engineering , mass transfer , heat transfer , flow assurance , materials science , chemical engineering , environmental science , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , geology , environmental engineering , mechanics , chromatography , composite material , engineering , organic chemistry , physics , paleontology , hydrate , sediment
Water‐in‐oil dispersions frequently form in subsea oil pipeline transportation and their presence affects the wax deposition rate in subsea pipelines. A fundamental model for wax deposition on the wall of water‐in‐oil dispersed phase flow pipelines has not been developed. Dispersed water droplets can affect the heat and mass transfer characteristics of wax deposition and alter the deposit growth rate. In this study, wax deposition from water‐in‐oil dispersed flows is comprehensively modeled using first principles of heat and mass transfer. The role of the dispersed water phase on the heat and mass transfer aspects of wax deposition is analyzed. The developed model predicts different effects of the water volume fraction and droplet size on the wax deposition rates in laboratory flow loop experiments and in field scale wax deposition processes. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 63: 4201–4213, 2017