Non-monotonic response of waxy oil gel strength to cooling rate

The oil at high temperatures in the reservoir loses heat to the surroundings and is submitted to different shear stresses while it is produced and transported. Thermal and shear histories have great influence on the rheological characteristics of waxy oils at low temperature. Wax crystals precipitate during cooling, building up a percolated matrix that entraps the oil and consequently, forms a gel-like structure. One of the main parameters that affect the crystals' morphology and therefore the gel strength is the cooling rate. Although the oil static cooling has been widely studied in the literature, many questions are still open. The current work analyzes the influence of the cooling rate on the gel strength and on the dynamic moduli (G and G) of a waxy model oil. Microscopic images of wax crystals were obtained and a hypothesis to explain the non-monotonic response of the rheological parameters as a function of the cooling rate is proposed based on the crystals' morphology.