Investigation on the Removal of Paraffin Wax Deposition by Magnetic Field

• Main Author: Nurhakimah binti Mohd Aman, Nurhakimah
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2009
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/599/1/nurhakimah_bt_mohd_aman.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/599/

Paraffin wax deposition creates problem to the surface facilities. One of the solutions to this problem is by applying magnetic field technology to reduce the viscosity. The effects of a magnetic field on aggregates to control paraffin wax deposition have been reviewed in technical literature. Chai Set Lee, Use of Magnetic Field in Paraffin Wax Deposition Control for Surface Facilities (2008) reported an experimental study on the influence of magnetic field on wax deposition removal and viscosity reduction. Chas Set Lee reported the configuration where the pipe is placed along the length of each magnet, on top of the pipe are both South poles while at the bottom are the North poles displayed the best magnetic field lines where all the line were at the right angle to the direction of force, this new cumulative force is bigger and acting at the same direction. This configuration is used in the wax removal experiment with different number of magnets, crude oil flow rate and temperature. However, experts in scale and paraffin control from industry leaders like Schlumberger, Nalco Chem and etc. believed that the magnetic field is something new and still in R&D stage where it is not proven in real applications. Thus, the objective of this exploration study is to find more scientific explanation on the effects of varies the numbers of magnets and the effects of applying different temperature and flow rate of crude oil in paraffin wax deposition control. Within the scope of this work the theme of magnetic technology control paraffin wax deposition is discussed based on preliminary laboratory and field results. From the results obtained in the experiments, it has been proven the effect of using magnetic field which reduces paraffin wax deposition by 2%. The efficiency of the magnetic field can be improved with some modification to the magnet strength, the crude oil flow rate and temperature. Results from this study hopefully will have significant impact in the industry to solve problems in crude oil production and transportation. This new investigation is proposed to be advance studied on the effect of magnetic field which could produce precise scientific explanation on the whole process.