Selecting a Product for Wax Remediation: From Characterization of Field Wax Deposits to Improvement of Treatment Sustainability

Abstract

Wax deposition is one of the known challenges of flow assurance management in upstream oil production and operations demanding continuous improvements and the search for more effective prevention and remediation methods. At the same time, there are no universally agreed upon test methods to evaluate the efficiency and mechanisms related to the chemical treatments. The objective of this paper is to present and debate different methods to evaluate the effectiveness of batch treatments for remediation of wax deposits and compare commonly applied solvents with fluids containing biosurfactants. One of the presented methods is a new test methodology that simulates dynamic and quasi-static flow regimes in production tubing and pipelines, as benchmarked methods, showed that the chemical treatments with biosurfactants, besides being a greener, sustainable option, were more efficient at dispersing wax deposits than the traditional solvent treatments.