Preventative Maintenance for Paraffin Management in Production Tubing Using Non-Invasive Ultrasonic Technology

Abstract

Preventative maintenance of paraffin deposition (“fouling”) in production tubes can be accomplished by maintaining the temperature of paraffinic crude oil above the wax appearance temperature (a.k.a. cloud point). Downhole resistive heating (trace heating) systems are mature, commercially available options for preventative maintenance however, the total cost of resistive heating systems and associated insulation make this solution financially inaccessible by most small oil producers. In addition, resistive heating systems expend significant energy heating the production tube and surrounding metal surfaces first and the oil within the production tube last. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing and testing a non-invasive ultrasonic liquid processing technology that can be installed around the outside of a production tube. This technology takes advantage of the inherent ultrasound-absorptive properties of oil to preferentially heat the oil first, and the production tubing last. This heating mechanism is more rapid and efficient than heat transfer mechanisms that rely on resistive heating and conductive heat transfer. The PNNL ultrasonic liquid processing technology was designed for the non-invasive, volumetric treatment of liquid process streams in a pipe or tube. This has many applications for the oil industry including treating liquid hydrocarbon streams to reduce oil viscosity, stimulate flow, aid coalescence and mitigate fouling from paraffin waxes and other deposits in the production tubing. A status of the development project will be provided.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90258 © 2016 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, Lexington, Kentucky, September 25-27, 2016