Review of Paraffin Deposition Research under Multiphase Flow Conditions

Abstract

Paraffin deposition in subsea pipelines is one of the flow assurance problems for oil and gas production. A reliable paraffin deposition prediction tool is needed to develop mitigation strategies. Most of the studies address single-phase paraffin deposition. However, in practice, multiphase flow is a common occurrence during oil and gas production. Paraffin deposition prediction under multiphase flowing conditions is largely ignored. The current practice is to use single-phase paraffin deposition models in conjunction with multiphase flow hydrodynamic and thermal models. Thermal models used mostly do not consider the flow pattern effects rigorously. The use of a single-phase paraffin deposition model for multiphase flow is not proper and may lead to significant uncertainty in predictions. Thus, there is a need to better understand paraffin deposition under multiphase flow conditions. A limited number of research studies has been conducted. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art in multiphase para...