Wax Deposition Law under a Gas-Liquid Bubbly Flow Pattern

Area of Science:

• Petroleum Engineering
• Fluid Dynamics
• Geochemistry

Background:

• Deep-sea environments present challenges like high pressure and low temperatures.
• Wax deposition in wellbores can impede oil and gas production.
• Gas-liquid two-phase flow is common in subsea wellbores.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of gas-liquid two-phase bubbly flow on wax deposition.
• To analyze the dynamic changes in wax accumulation under different flow conditions.
• To provide insights into wax deposition mechanisms in deep-sea wellbores.

Main Methods:

• Experimental study of wax deposition using waxy white oil and air.
• Simulating gas-liquid two-phase flow in vertical pipelines.
• Varying parameters such as superficial gas velocity, superficial liquid velocity, oil temperature, ambient temperature, and wax content.

Main Results:

• Wax deposition initially peaks rapidly, then partially sloughs off, exhibiting a simple harmonic trend before stabilizing.
• Average wax deposit thickness shows a non-monotonic relationship with superficial gas and liquid velocities.
• Increased oil temperature reduces wax thickness, while increased ambient temperature initially has little effect before decreasing thickness.
• Higher wax content in the oil flow leads to increased wax deposit thickness.

Conclusions:

• Gas-liquid bubbly flow significantly influences the dynamics and extent of wax deposition.
• Optimizing flow parameters and temperature management can mitigate wax deposition issues.
• This research aids in understanding and predicting wax deposition in deep-sea production.