Reduction of Paraffin Precipitation and Viscosity of Brazilian Crude Oil Exposed to Magnetic Fields

Abstract

The problems related to organic deposition on pipeline walls are well-known and have been challenging the petroleum industry since the primordial days. Some problems can result in a decrease of the production rate or a rise in the pumping power. Motivated by these problems, the present work tried to understand the influence of magnetic fields on paraffin crystallization and the reduction of crude oil viscosity. A mixture of paraffin (C15−C58) was diluted in n-hexane, and the solvent was evaporated slowly, under the influence of a 0.3 T magnetic field, and also naturally, without the influence of magnetic fields. The micrographs of paraffin crystals show that the magnetic field influenced the crystallization process. Further, for a better understanding of the reduction of crude oil viscosity, some experiments were made to show the influence of a magnetic field (1.3 T) on the viscosity of three samples with different paraffin contents. Sample 1 had its viscosity reduced. Originally, its viscosity was 69 cP. After exposure to the magnetic field, its viscosity was reduced to 39 cP. The other samples maintained the same viscosity before and after magnetic field exposure. Therefore, the reduction of oil viscosity does not happen for all types of crude oils. In an attempt to detect the factors in sample 1 that probably affect the reduction of oil viscosity, the samples were analyzed by the techniques of 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) and next compared to each other.