• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

Wax deposition hinders oil flow assurance. Huge amount of money and time were required for mitigation of wax deposition in the oil field. For prediction and mitigation of wax deposition problem, Wax Appearance Temperature(WAT), which is the temperature at which the first wax crystals start to form, needs to be measured in advance. There is a standard method which is optical way to measure the WAT of transparent oil. However, standard method cannot be applied to opaque oil which is common produced oil in the field. In this study, WAT of three transparent oil samples were measured using heat flux variation analysis, viscosity variation analysis and density variation analysis, and compared with WAT measured by standard method. As a result, WAT measured by density variation analysis is the more reliable than heat flux variation analysis and viscosity variation analysis. WAT of two opaque oils were measured using density variation analysis.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.185-194
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• 2012

Deepwater oil is becoming more attractive because most onshore and shallow water oil is developing or developed. With the on-going trend to deepwater oil developments, flow assurance problems which prevent oil flow from reservoir to processing facilities are becoming an issue because deposited material can be occurred in case oil is exposed to very different environment from reservoir. Wax deposition which is one of flow assurance problems can be a major technical and economic issue because it is very sensitive to temperature. In order to predict and mitigate wax problems, the precise measurement of wax appearance temperature (WAT) which is the starting temperature of wax precipitation is very important. Various methods have been suggested for WAT measurement of opaque oil because there is no standard method for opaque oil. In this study, the WAT of opaque oil samples was measured using viscosity measurement method, differential scanning calorimetry, filter plugging method, and pressurized filter plugging method. Wax deposition test and high temperature gas chromatography analysis were applied to verify measured WAT. As a result of study, the WAT of opaque oils was successfully measured and verified. If WAT measurement methods of opaque oil related to oil characteristics is systematized using the results of this study, it can be a valuable tool for WAT measurement of opaque oil and flow assurance related to wax deposition.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

When the oil is produced in the low temperature environment, wax can be accumulated in petroleum production system(pipeline, riser) and causes problems such as pipeline stucking, disturbance of the oil production. These problems can be lead to time-consuming and economic losses for flow assurance. For prediction and mitigation of wax deposition, it is necessary to measure the Wax Appearance Temperature(WAT) which is a temperature when the wax crystals start to be formed. WAT standard measurement method of transparent oil has to determine the cloud point of sample to the naked eye and cannot be applied to continuous change of the temperature. In this study, wax behavior of transparent oil samples are recorded depending on temperature using Visualized WAT Measurement System. Also, WATs of transparent oil samples are measured by image processing and compared with the result of the standard method.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.495-503
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• 2017

Wax components can be precipitated when surrounding temperature decreases below wax precipitation temperature (WAT). WAT as well as pour point are important characteristics to evaluate the behavior of waxy oils. In this study, qualitative and quantitative evaluations of waxes in waxy model oils were presented after determining WAT and pour point. In case of anhydrous waxy model oils, ASTM D2500 may be most useful to determine WAT because of the transparent nature of model oils. With same apparatus, ASTM D97 is also applicable to determine the pour point of waxy oils in a serial determination. In case of emulsified model oils, however, it is difficult to measure WAT because of its opaque nature. This study employed FTIR spectroscopy to determine wax precipitation temperature and discussed the effect of emulsion state regarding the values of WAT. Further study would be needed to conclude the effect of water contents to WAT values in case of emulsified waxy oil.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.376-381
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• 2013

High molecular weight paraffinic waxes dissolved in oil phases can be precipitated when the surrounding temperature becomes lower than the wax appearance temperature (WAT). While the various methods of WAT determination have been developed, the determination of precipitated wax amount has not been comparably popular at temperatures below the WAT. It is important to predict how much solid wax content precipitates in temperature variance. The study develops the previous method which uses integrated areas determined at a wavenumber range of 735~715 $cm^{-1}$. This method uses two different wavenumber ranges, 735~715 $cm^{-1}$ and 1,402~1,324 $cm^{-1}$. The study shows how the method provides reliable data in the variety of applications regardless of FTIR spectral instability often occurred, such as volume reduction during cooling procedure and existence of emulsified water in oil phase.