Development of an Approach for Determining the Effectiveness of Inhibition of Paraffin Deposition on the Wax Flow Loop Laboratory Installation

Abstract

The formation of wax deposits is a common phenomenon in the production and transportation of formation fluids. On the territory of the Perm Krai, this problem occurs in half of the mining funds. One of the most common and promising methods of dealing with these deposits is the use of inhibitor regents. The most popular technique for assessing the effectiveness of a wax inhibitor is the «Cold Finger», which has a number of significant drawbacks. This work presents a number of methods for assessing the effectiveness of inhibition of paraffin formation on the laboratory installation «WaxFlowLoop». A number of laboratory studies have been carried out to determine the effectiveness of a paraffin deposition inhibitor for inhibiting the paraffin formation process of four target fluids. Verification of the obtained values was carried out by comparing them with the field data. As a result of laboratory studies, it was found that the value of the inhibitor efficiency, determined by the «Cold Finger» method, differs from the field data by an average of 2 times. At the same time, the average deviation of the results determined at the «WaxFlowLoop» installation from the field data is 8.1%. The correct selection of a paraffin deposition inhibitor and its dosage can significantly increase the inter-treatment period of the well, thereby reducing its maintenance costs and increasing the efficiency of well operation.

Keywords

• wax deposits
• laboratory studies
• inhibitors
• effectiveness
• complication