Evaluation of Local Pour Point Depressant on Waxy Crude Oil

Abstract

Pour point of crude oil has been a huge concern in flow assurance at some stage in crude oil production and transportation. Pour point depressants are used as chemical additives when transporting crude oils at temperatures below their pour point to prevent the fluid not to flow. Various chemical additives which are synthetic products are quite expensive for usage. This study utilizes oil extracted from plant waste material such orange peel (OP) and soya bean husk (SBH) as pour point depressants for Nigerian waxy crude oil. Effects of plant extracts on pour point of the two crude oil samples A and B were investigated using pour point apparatus. The waxy crude oil sample without pour point depressant, waxy crude oil sample doped with soya bean husk oil (SBHO), waxy crude oils sample doped with orange peel oil (OPO) and waxy crude oil sample doped with toluene gave pour point values of 86°F, 75.5°F, 64.48°F and 75.5°F then and 80.6°F, 75.2°F, 59°F and 80.6°F at 2800 ppm for waxy crude oil samples A and B respectively. The results obtained revealed that the oils extracted from these agricultural waste product could depress the pour points of the crude oil appreciably while orange peel oil (OPO) exhibited highest depression ability, however OPO which performed better than soya bean husk oil (SBHO) and Toluene and OPO could be a good substitute for pour point depressants for waxy crude oil.