Title: Characterisation of paraffinic compositions in crude oils

Authors: Hussain H. Al-Kayiem; Wong Ning; Nassir Dhamin Mokhlif

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia ' Drilling Division, PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (PCSB), Level 22, PTT1, 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Natural Resources Research Center, Energy Department, University of Tikrit, Iraq

Abstract: The deposition and gelation of paraffin wax are among the significant risks in flow assurance during crude oil transportation. These risks are highly influenced by the structure of hydrocarbons in the produced composition from the well. In the present paper, four crude oil samples acquired from different Malaysian fields were experimentally analysed through gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermal gravimetric analyses. The crudes were investigated, with focus on the carbon number distribution, wax appearance temperature, and wax content. The results demonstrate that the crude oil samples with high molecular percentage of carbon distribution within a range of C20 to C40 comprehend high wax content. Measurement results of the four investigated crude samples revealed that the wax content is relatively high compared to other crudes produced in East Asian fields. Also, the four samples possess low wax appearance temperature characteristics, and all four crudes might behave as non-Newtonian at temperature around 38°C. The results provide useful information to manage the risk of wax formation in the transportation pipeline and the flow assurance of the crude. [Received: August 30, 2015; Accepted: July, 24, 2016].

Keywords: carbon number distribution; crude oil; differential scanning calorimetry; DSC; paraffinic composition; wax appearance temperature; WAT; wax content in crude.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.084320

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.15 No.2, pp.152 - 165

Received: 03 Oct 2015
Accepted: 24 Jul 2016
Published online: 05 Jun 2017 *

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