Mitigation and Remediation Technologies of Waxy Crude Oils’ Deposition within Transportation Pipelines: A Review

Abstract

Deposition of wax is considered one of the most significant culprits in transporting petroleum crude oils, particularly at low temperatures. When lowering pressure and temperature during the flow of crude oil, the micelle structure of the crude oil is destabilized, allowing oil viscosity to increase and precipitating paraffin (wax) in the well tubulars and pipeline, which increase the complexity of this culprit. These deposited substances can lead to the plugging of production and flow lines, causing a decline in oil production and, subsequently, bulk economic risks for the oil companies. Hence, various approaches have been commercially employed to prevent or remediate wax deposition. However, further research is still going on to develop more efficient techniques. These techniques can be categorized into chemical, physical, and biological ones and hybridized or combined techniques that apply one or more of these techniques. This review focused on all these technologies and the advantages and disadvantages of these technologies.