Influence of Oil Components on the Wax Deposition of Heavy Oil

The high content of heavy components and poor fluidity of heavy oil present a substantial challenge to its efficient transportation in the petroleum industry. Diluting heavy oil with light oil is one of the approaches utilized to improve its fluidity. However, existing research has given relatively little attention to the deposition behavior of blended crude oil. In this study, a loop experiment device was systematically employed to investigate the effects of light oil components, the blending oil ratio, and properties on the deposition of diluted heavy oil. The wax, resin, asphaltene, and carbon contents of the deposits were analyzed using four components analysis and high-temperature gas chromatography. The results indicated that a higher content of wax, resin, and asphaltene in light oil led to an increase in the wax appearance temperature and the deposit thickness of the blended oil. Additionally, a reduction in the light oil ratio was associated with an increase in deposit thickness. When analyzing the deposit components, an upward trend was observed in the wax content and average carbon number. A discussion on the interaction mechanism was carried out, suggesting that the molecular diffusion and aging effect were accountable for the variations in both the thickness and composition of the deposits in the blended system. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the transportation of heavy oil diluted with light crude oil.