Influence of mechanical impurities composition on formation of organic deposits

Abstract

Relevance. The need to study the effect of solid particles in the oil stream on formation, composition and structure of deposits. Modern models of formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits, based on correlation dependencies or empirical data, do not take into account the influence of the content of solid particles in oil to the proper extent. Recent studies show that various solid particles in oil can affect both the critical velocity and the structure of the formed deposits, but the effect of various particles on the intensity of formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits remains unexplored. Aim. To study the effect of various sand fractions on the intensity of formation, composition and structure of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits Methods. Modeling of formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits at the laboratory installation “Cold Finger” when adding various sand fractions to oil; studying composition and structure of deposits after the conducted investigations using a microscope. Results. According to the research results, there is a significant increase in the intensity of formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits when large fractions of sand are added to oil at a concentration of 5% or higher. It is worth noting that small fractions have almost no effect on the amount of deposits formed. Also, if various fractions are added to oil in equal proportions, there is almost no effect on the intensity of formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits. When analyzing the deposits images from a microscope, it can be concluded that paraffin molecules, when interacting with sand particles of a dimension greater than 0.05 mm, form homols, and with an increase in the fraction, their structural strength grows. Conclusions. The study of modern models of formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits and current articles made it possible to understand that the issue of studying the factors of formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits, in particular the effect of the presence of solid particles in oil, remains open. The results of this article can be aimed at improving existing technologies in the field of modeling paraffin formation, as well as contribute to the further work of researchers in this direction.