Flow Assurance

2
WAT Testing Methods
Cross Polar Microscopy (CPM) most sensitive
- Uses polarized light and temperature controlled stage to visually determine both wax appearance
and disappearance temperatures.
- Disadvantages:
Loss of light end components
Requires careful temperature calibration
Dependent on cooling rate and pre-treatment method
Imaging
Light Scattering
Precipitation
Filtration
Cold Finger Deposition Test
Indirect
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
Compositional Model
3
WAT Testing Methods
Test
Method
Advantages Disadvantages Recommendation
Estimated
Accuracy
(C)
Cross-
Polarized
Microscop
y (CPM)
Detection of first wax crystal
and subsequent detection of
growth rates and morphology
via microscope
Small sample size required
Difficult to use at high
pressure.
Can be compromised for
highly contaminated samples
Recommended method for
WAT measurement.
Widely used reliable method
with high sensitivity.
Requires low cooling rates and
high quality samples.
1 - 3
Differentia
l Scanning
Calorimetr
y (DSC)
Detects phase change, relying
on exothermic and
endothermic phase transition
(i.e. melting/solidification)
Quick, easy, reliable
Can infer solid phase content
Fast, unrealistic cooling rates
required for good sensitivity.
Can give low values (typically
~5C lower than CPM
measurements)
Less used in industry
Repeatable method.
Requires good sample quality.
Sensitivity can be poor for low
wax contents.
3 - 5
Filter
plugging
Can be used for high-pressure
tests
Simple equipment
Very fine filters required for
accurate determination of
WAT
Somewhat subjective method
that shouldnt be used as
primary WAT measurement.
May be confused by
precipitation of other solids.
8 - 10
Near-
Infrared
(NIR)
Simple, visual method
Rely on light transmittance,
which can be impacted by
types of paraffin
Can be misleading when
asphaltenes are present
Can be used as back-
up/confirmation for CPM test
2-4
Viscosity
Large sample size adds to
representativeness. Can use
high-pressure viscometer.
Subjective interpretation
Does not work for low wax
content fluids.
Possibly recommended for live
crudes with marked WAT, but
should be used with caution.
10 - 15
Cold
Finger
Sample size
Relatively quick/simple test
method
Limited control over cooling
rate
Limited ability to monitor
crystal growth
Can be used as screening-
level analysis to determine
bulk WAT or CWDT
5 - 10
4
Cross Polarization Microscopy (CPM)
34C 28C
27C
25C 20C
5
Wax Appearance vs. Dissolution
Wax deposits melt at significantly higher temperature than the form
- ~10-20C above WAT
- Could be as high as 64C (hard deposit)

Wax will re-dissolve into oil at temperature higher than WAT but less
than melting point
- form slurry flow of wax particles in bulk liquid
- impact on fluid rheology




6
Wax Content Precipitation Method
Precipitation Method (BP237/75)
Asphaltenes removed from the
sample
Crude is dissolved in DCM
Chilled at -32C
Precipitated wax filtered off
Weight of wax collected expressed
as % of the amount of starting
material



0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Temperature (F)
W
a
x

C
o
n
t
e
n
t

(
w
t
%
)
Cascade
Chinook
In comparison to an HTGC analyses, wax content measurements from
precipitation methods provide a quick screening method to determine
the amount of wax in the sample, but they should be used with
caution, as they do not provide any information regarding the n-
paraffin distribution of the sample.


7
Wax Content HTGC Method
(Extended n-Paraffin Analysis)
High Temperature Gas Chromatography: Compositional method.
Determines n-paraffin composition of all n-paraffin components
between C15 and C100
Required to identify content of higher number of n-paraffin chains. A
simple lumped C30+ composition is not sufficient
Importance in system design / wax deposition modeling:





Wax content heavily
influenced by n-paraffin
components at relatively
low carbon numbers (C15
to C30) BUT WAT is heavily
influenced by n-paraffin
distribution at much higher
carbon numbers
8
Similar wax content Similar WAT


0.00001
0.00010
0.00100
0.01000
0.10000
1.00000
10.00000
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Carbon Number
W
t
-
%

N
-
P
a
r
a
f
f
i
n
Sample #1: 1.5% wax, 31C WAT
Sample #2: 4.6% wax, 32C WAT
0.00001
0.00010
0.00001
0.00010
0.00100
0.01000
0.10000
1.00000
10.00000
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
Carbon Number
W
t
-
%

N
-
P
a
r
a
f
f
i
n
Sample #1: 1.5% wax, 31C WAT
Sample #2: 4.6% wax, 32C WAT
Similar wax content. Different WAT
Different wax content. Similar WAT
9
Crude Oil Viscosity
Viscosities should be measured by
shearing the samples at a
constant rate and by cooling the
sample at a constant rate from
above the WAT to the minimum
ambient temperature expected in the
field.
Care should be taken to ensure the
fluids are properly handled prior to
starting the measurements,
A reasonable cooling rate should be
used. It is recommended that a
cooling rate of 0.5C/minute be used
to obtain the most accurate viscosity
data
A sealed viscometer should be used
to minimize light-ends loss in the
sample.