Wax deposition and prediction in petroleum pipelines

Wax prediction is crucial because accumulation of wax in the crude oil pipelines is a wide concern in the petroleum industry. In the subsea pipelines, the cold temperature of the pipeline walls causes the wax particles in the oil to crystalize over time and deposit on the inner surface. It can even cause a complete blockage of pipe affecting the supply. The process of cleaning the wax buildup is called pigging in which the shutdown and maintenance cost is extremely prohibitive. Wax prediction can assist in avoiding such blockage. Hence, it becomes crucial to monitor the wax deposition thickness to determine when cleaning process is necessary or not and avoid blockage issue. This article presents various wax prediction methods that are implemented to estimate the wax deposition.