Prediction Model of Wax Deposition Rate in Waxy Crude Oil Pipelines by Elman Neural Network Based on Improved Reptile Search Algorithm

A hard problem that hinders the movement of waxy crude oil is wax deposition in oil pipelines.To ensure the safe operation of crude oil pipelines,an accurate model must be developed to predict the rate of wax deposition in crude oil pipelines.Aiming at the shortcomings of the ENN prediction model,which easily falls into the local minimum value and weak generalization ability in the implementation process,an optimized ENN prediction model based on the IRSA is proposed.The validity of the new model was confirmed by the accurate prediction of two sets of experimental data on wax deposition in crude oil pipelines.The two groups of crude oil wax deposition rate case prediction results showed that the average absolute percentage errors of IRSA-ENN prediction models is 0.5476% and 0.7831%,respectively.Additionally,it shows a higher prediction accuracy compared to the ENN prediction model.In fact,the new model established by using the IRSA to optimize ENN can optimize the initial weights and thresholds in the prediction process,which can overcome the shortcomings of the ENN prediction model,such as weak generalization ability and tendency to fall into the local minimum value,so that it has the advantages of strong implementation and high prediction accuracy.

Effect of nanocomposite pour point depressant EVAL/CNT on flow properties of waxy crude oil

The nanocomposite EVAL-CNT was produced by chemical grafting in the solution system through the esterification of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVAL) and carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (O-MWCNT), and its structural properties were characterized. The improvement of the rheological properties of the waxy oil system by the novel pour point depressant was investigated using macroscopic rheological measurements and microscopic observations. The results showed that EVAL-CNT nanocomposite pour point depressant (PPD) could significantly reduce the pour point and improve the low temperature fluidity of crude oil and had better performance than EVAL-GO at the same addition level. The best effect was achieved at the dosing concentration of 400 ppm, which reduced the pour point by 13 ℃ and the low-temperature viscosity by 85.4%. The nanocomposites dispersed in the oil phase influenced the precipitation and crystallization of wax molecules through heterogeneous crystallization templates, which led to the increase of wax crystal size and compact structure and changed the wax crystal morphology, which had a better effect on the rheological properties of waxy oil.

Rheo-optic in situ synchronous study on the gelation behaviour and mechanism of waxy crude oil emulsions

An improved rheo-optic in situ synchronous measurement system was employed to investigate the gelation behaviour and mechanism of waxy crude oil emulsions. By combining transmitted natural light and reflected polarized light microscopy, a multiangle composite light source was built to achieve the simultaneous observation of wax crystals and emulsified water droplets, as well as their dynamic aggregation process. Main outcomes on the microscopic mechanism were obtained by developed microscopic image processing method. It was found that the microstructure of W/O waxy crude oil emulsion has the evolution of “individual structure--homogeneous aggregate structure--heterogeneous coaggregate structure--floc structure” during the static cooling, which results in the four stages during gelation process. Different from previous studies, the aggregation of emulsified water droplets was found to be more significant and contributes to the formation and development of the wax crystals-emulsified water droplets coaggregate, which plays a decisive role in the further evolution of the gelled microstructure. Time series microscopic images show the dynamic aggregation of emulsified water droplets and wax crystals. Two different aggregation behaviours between wax crystals and water droplets were observed. That wax crystals can not only embed in gaps between adjacent water droplets and enhance the structure, but also surround the outside of the water droplets and continue to grow resulting in the interconnection of different coaggregates to form a larger floc structure. In addition, correlation between viscoelasticity and microstructure evolution of waxy crude oil emulsions of different water contents was discussed. With increasing water contents, the microstructure is changed from wax crystal flocculation structure as the main skeleton and the emulsified water droplets embedded in it, into the aggregation of emulsified water droplets occupying the main position. When the number of wax crystals and water droplets reaches a certain ratio, did wax crystals form coaggregates with emulsified water droplets, and the remaining wax crystals formed an overall flocculation structure, the viscoelasticity of the waxy crude oil emulsion is the highest.

Modeling the viscoelasto-plastic behavior of waxy crude

Waxy crude oil exhibits complex rheological behavior below the pour point temperature, such as viscoelasticity, yield stress, and thixotropy, owing to the formation of a three-dimensional spongelike interlock network structure. This viscoelasto-thixotropic behavior is an important rheologieal behavior of waxy crude oils, determining the flow recovery and safe restart of crude oil pipelines. Up to now, the thixotropic models for waxy crude have been all viscoplastic models, without considering the viscoelastic part before the yield point. In this work, based on analyzing the variation of the elastic stress and viscous stress in the Mujumbar model, a new viscoelasto-plastic model is proposed, whose shear stress is separated into an elastic component and a viscous component. The elastic stress is the product of the shear modulus and elastic strain; the shear modulus is proportional to the structural parameter. For the elastic strain, we followed the line of Zhu and his coauthors and assumed that it may be expressed by an algebraic equation. The model is validated by stepwise shear rate tests and hysteresis loop tests on Daqing and Zhongyuan waxy crude. The results show that the model＇s fitting and predictive capability is satisfactory.

Characteristic Temperatures of Waxy Crude Oils

Gel point or pour point is widely used to evaluate the low temperature flowability of crude oil. However, it is not adequate to describe the gelling properties of waxy crude oils under flow conditions with gel point or pour point, since the theological behavior of crude oils is dependent on shear history. Waxy crude oils tend to gel at a low temperature. Based on gelation theory, the characteristic temperature of waxy crude oil was determined by analyzing viscosity-temperature data. Two mathematical models were developed for calculating characteristic temperatures of virgin crude oils and pour point depressants （PPD） beneficiated crude oils, respectively. By using these two models, the characteristic temperatures of crude oils that have experienced shearing and thermal histories can be predicted. The model for predicting the characteristic temperature of virgin crude oils has an average relative deviation of 4.5%, and all predicted values have a deviation within 2 ℃. Tested by 42 sets of data, the prediction model for crude oil treated with PPD has a high accuracy, with an average relative deviation of 4.2%, and 95.2 percent of predicted values have a deviation within 2 ℃. These two models provide useful ways for predicting the flowability of crude oils in pipelines when only wax content, wax appearance point and gel point are available.

Study on the thixotropy and structural recovery characteristics of waxy crude oil emulsion

Waxy crude oil emulsion has thixotropic properties at the temperature near gel point,which is a macromechanical characterization of the structure failure and recovery of waxy crude oil emulsion.In this paper,the thixotropic behaviors of waxy crude oil emulsion near gel point were studied using hysteresis loop formed by stress linear increase and decrease,as well as the structural recovery characteristics.The influence of the loading conditions and water content on the thixotropy of waxy crude oil emulsion were analyzed with hysteresis loop area.The concept of"structural recovery"was introduced to study the degree of structural recovery after different stewing,and influencing factors were taken into account.Results have shown that for waxy crude oil emulsion,the failure to fully restore of the structure after lysis is the cause of the formation of hysteresis loop,and the loading conditions will not affect the strength of thixotropy and the degree of structural recovery.Additionally,the dispersed phase droplets weaken the thixotropy and structure recovery characteristics of waxy crude oil emulsion,and the greater the water content,the weaker the thixotropy.The findings can help to better understand the safe and economic operation of waxy crude oil-water pipeline transportation.

Advances in rheology and flow assurance studies of waxy crude

Flow assurance is one of the core issues in safe and economical operation of waxy crude pipelines.Its essence lies in flow and heat transfer of the crude.In the past 10 years,the authors＇ team has achieved a lot of innovative results in aspects of waxy crude rheology,flow assurance assessment,and pipelining technologies on the basis of decades of studies.The rheological characteristics of waxy crude are much better understood,and a method for quantitatively simulating the effect of flow shear was developed based on some theoretical breakthroughs.Studies of the mechanism of waxy crude rheology have been deepened to the quantitative level.After successful development of efficient numericalalgorithms,accurate simulations have been achieved for various complex flow and heat transfer situations in waxy crude pipelining,and a reliability-based approach to flow assurance assessment has been set up.New pipelining technologies have been developed such as batching pour-point depressant-（PPD-） treated multiple-waxy-crudes,intermittent transport of waxy crudes through long-distance pipelines,and batching hot and cold crudes.By their application,a series of problems hindering safe,efficient and flexible operation of waxy crude pipelines were tackled,demonstrating that transportation technologies for waxy crude have advanced to a new and high level.

A nonlinear creep damage model for gelled waxy crude

Yielding behaviors of waxy crude oil is one of the key issues of flow assurance challenges. The yielding of waxy crude under constant stress is actually a creep process of strain accumulation to structural failure,to describe the process completely and accurately is the basis of numerical simulation of restart process of the pipeline. The creep and yield behaviors of two gelled waxy crudes were investigated experimentally under different constant applied stresses. The results clearly show that the creep process of waxy crude is related to the applied stress and time. The greater the applied stress, and the longer the loaded time, the more obvious the nonlinear features. Based on the fractional calculus theory, a fractional viscous element was developed to describe the decelerated and steady creep process of gelled waxy crude. On the basis of the damage theory, an elastic damage element was proposed to describe the accelerated creep after the yielding. According to the idea of mechanical analogy, a nonlinear creep model was established by a fractional viscous element, an elastic damaged element, and an elastic element in series, which can accurately describe the whole creep and yielding process of gelled waxy crude.

Study on the effect of CH_(4) dissolution on the microstructure of wax crystal in waxy crude oil

In this work, the influence of the dissolution of methane(CH_(4)) gas on the wax crystal of waxy crude oil and the effect on the rheology of crude oil by dissolved CH_(4) were studied comprehensively. A self-deign high-pressure micro visualization device was developed to analyze wax crystals before and after gas dissolution. The crude oil from Shengli and Nanyang was tested by the device under various gas pressures. Results showed that the viscosity, maximum shear stress and equilibrium shear stress of Shengli crude oil decreased with the increasing pressure of the dissolved CH_(4). Due to the supersaturation of dissolved gas, the viscosity, maximum shear stress and equilibrium shear stress of Nanyang crude oil decreased initially and increased with the increasing pressure of dissolved CH_(4). The change in rheology of the dissolved gas crude oil can be a combined influence of gas pressure and dissolution mechanisms caused by CH_(4). Additionally, the wax precipitation point of Shengli crude oil decreased at the saturated dissolution of CH_(4), while Nanyang crude oil showed an increasing wax precipitation temperature.Notably, the wax precipitation area, number of wax particles, and average diameter of wax crystal in both crude oils gradually decreased with dissolution. However, a saturation of CH_(4) caused a small amount of precipitation of wax crystals in Nanyang crude oil, and the small wax crystals were aggregated to form the large wax crystals. The dissolution of CH_(4) gas can affect the wax crystallization process, crystallization ability, and morphology of wax crystals that resulted in significant variation in the rheology of crude oil.

Study on Viscoelastic Behaviors of Waxy Crude Water-in-Oil Emulsion

Emulsion of waxy crude oil is one of the common states in the subsea pipeline. At low temperatures in offshore environment, waxy crude oils with water could form the crude oil emulsion gel of oil-in-water emulsion. Thus, the waxy crude oil emulsion viscoelastic behavior for deep sea transportation and restarting pipeline safety is particularly important. By means of MASIII HAAKE rheometer which is produced by German company, waxy crude oil emulsion viscoelastic behavior is explored at different volumetric water contents and different shear stresses. By analyzing the rate of change of shear rate in the initial stage, the influence rules of viscoelastic properties were summarized, with the change of volumetric water content and the applied shear stress and based on the experimental results, the law of emulsion is explained from the micro level. It is proposed that brittle fracture exists between wax crystals, and flexible fracture was found in the interaction between water droplets and wax crystals.

A synergistic effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles and polyethylene butene improving the rheology of waxy crude oil

This research examined the use of 75 nm zinc oxide nanoparticles(nano ZnO)and polyethylene butene(PEB)to decrease the viscosity of Nigerian waxy crude oil.The rheology of the crude oil was assessed by measuring the viscosity and shear stress of samples containing PEB at 500,1000,2000,3000,4000 or 5000 ppm and nano ZnO at 1,2,3 or 4 wt% between 10 and 35℃ at shear rates from 1.7 to 1020 s^(-1).Rheological modeling indicated that a power law pseudoplastic model was the best fit for the experimental data,giving a regression coefficient of 0.99.The addition of these inhibitors induced Newtonian fluid behavior in the crude samples such that the shear stress-shear rate relationship plots were linear at all temperatures.The optimum concentrations of the inhibitors in this study were 2000 ppm PEB(providing a 33% viscosity reduction)and 1 wt% nano ZnO(providing a 26% viscosity reduction).A combination of these additives at these concentrations provided a synergistic effect and gave a greater viscosity reduction of 41%.This work demonstrates that a blend of ZnO nanoparticles and PEB can improve the flowability of waxy crude.

Pre-heating temperature induced flowability and wax deposition characteristics of crude oil adding wax inhibitors

This paper investigated the effects of pre-heating treatment temperatures(T_(pre))on the flowability and wax deposition characteristics of a typical waxy crude oil after adding wax inhibitors.It is found that there is little difference in wax precipitation exothermic characteristics of crude oils at different T_(pre),as well as the wax crystal solubility coefficient in the temperature range of 25-30℃.For the undoped crude oil,the flowability after wax precipitation gets much improved and the wax deposition is alleviated as T_(pre)increasing.At T_(pre)=50℃,the viscosity and wax deposition rate of crude oil adding wax inhibitors are higher than those of the undoped crude oil.When the T_(pre)increases to 60,70,and 80℃,the flowability of the doped crude oil are largely improved and the wax deposition is suppressed with the T_(pre)increase,but the wax content of wax deposit increases gradually.It is speculated that,on the one hand,the T_(pre)increase helps the dispersion of asphaltenes into smaller sizes,which facilitates the co-crystallization with paraffin waxes and generates more aggregated wax crystal flocs.This weakens the low-temperature gel structure and increases the solid concentration required for the crosslink to form the wax deposit.On the other hand,the decrease in viscosity increases the diffusion rate of wax molecules and accelerates the aging of wax deposits.The experimental results have important guiding significance for the pipeline transportation of doped crude oils.

Study of linseed oil,its biodiesel and xylene as flow improver for Nigerian waxy crude oils

In this study,the physicochemical properties of linseed and linseed biofuel were studied and their effect on the flow properties of Nigerian waxy crude oil at different volume fractions was investigated.The Nigerian wax crude oil was characterized for its specific gravity,API gravity,wax content,pour point and cloud point.The properties of the linseed oil and linseed biodiesel investigated include:density,specific gravity,viscosity,pour point,cloud point and flash point.Upon esterification of the free fatty acid(FFA)contained in the linseed oil reduced from 3.5 to 0.75 and the viscosity of the seed oil reduces from 2169 to 362 mm^(2)/s.The linseed oil and its biodiesel exhibited similar trend of reduced viscosity at higher shear rate,however,linseed biodiesel demonstrated the lowest viscosities,cloud points and pour points owing to reduced fatty contents.The effect of the linseed oil and its biodiesel on the pour point and cloud point of the waxy crude oil was determined;and the performance compared to that of xylene.A rapid drop in the pour point and cloud point was observed with the wax crude pre-heated with 0.1 v/v linseed oil,its biodiesel and xylene.

Performance improvement of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Copolymer Pour Point Depressant(EVA PPD)by adding small dosages of Laurylamine(LA)

Lauramine is widely considered to be an asphaltene flocculant,but its effect on the modification of crude oil by PPDs has been little studied.In this paper,the effect of LA dosage on the rheology improvement of EVA PPDs(100 ppm)on Qinghai waxy crude oil was investigated through rheological measurement,wax precipitating analysis,granularity test and resins/asphaltenes FTIR analysis.Compared with pure EVA,the compounding of LA and EVA obviously enhances the agglomeration degree and reduces the number of fine wax crystals,thus further enhancing the rheology of the oil samples,and the best performance is at the LA dosage of 200 ppm.At relatively small LA dosages,the LA facilitates the adsorption of EVA molecules on the asphaltene surfaces,which favors the becoming of EVA/asphaltenes composite particles;but at relatively high LA dosages,the LA makes the asphaltenes more aggregated and disturbs the EVA adsorption on the asphaltenes,which is adverse for the formation of EVA/asphaltenes compound particles.The compound particles can serve as wax precipitating templates and significantly influence its morphology,thus further improving the crude oil rheology.In consequence,the rheology improvement of EVA PPDs on Qinghai waxy crude oil first increases and then decreases with increasing the LA dosage.