Friday, January 11, 2019

Here Is Information On Paraffin Removal Oil Wells

By Amy Wright


Today, petroleum fuels power the world. The fuels are mined from different areas worldwide. Among the regions that is most popular for its large oil resource deposits is the Middle East. Many economies in the area depend on oil a lot. Africa, the United States, and Russia are other countries with huge oil resources. This is what Paraffin Removal Oil Wells are all about.

There many challenges involved in the process of removing oil from its deposits. Formation of organic deposits inside and around the wellbore is among one of the most occurring problems. The deposits can be grouped into two major groups. The two are asphaltenes and paraffin. These deposits occur in the tubing or pores of reservoir rocks.

Three major groups of compounds are contained in crude oil. These compounds are resins and asphaltenes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and saturated hydrocarbons, which are also called paraffins. Paraffins and aromatic hydrocarbons make the highest composition in crude oil, while asphaltenes and resins make only a small percentage. Bitumens, tars, and other more degraded crudes on the other hand contain more asphaltenes and resins compared to paraffins and aromatic hydrocarbons.

Paraffins are alkanes of high-molecular weight that build up in feed lines, wellbores and other components and spaces in boring setups. The deposits usually increase in thickness over time, and when they are grown to large sizes, they can lead to significant reduction in oil production. When this level is reached, it is important for some remedial steps to be taken to restore full production.

Usually, deposits range in toughness from very hard deposits to deposits that are brittle. These deposits normally get firmer and bigger as the molecular weight of the paraffin rises. In most instances, asphaltenes and paraffins occur separately although there are situations where they occur together. The loss of solubility of the crude oil is what causes the deposition. Several factors like change in temperature and pressure and changes in composition of the oils cause the loss of solubility.

There are various techniques used in removal of paraffins. To make the removal process of paraffins faster and easier, new techniques have been invented in the course of time. As such, today there exist many methods. These techniques can be grouped into 3 major groups. The three include use of heat for melting and removing the wax, use of chemical solvents, and mechanical removal.

Use of scrappers and knives to remove wax deposits in wellbores fall under mechanical methods. The efficiency level of mechanical methods varies a lot depending on factors surrounding the oil deposit. But, it is clear that mechanical methods are generally inexpensive to apply. As a result, most companies use them on their oil fields.

The use of solvents is also commonly employed. Here, crude oil is applied on the walls of the wellbore to remove deposits of paraffins. The crude oils used in this process are heated to a temperature of 300 degrees fareinheit. The hot oils is then injected or fed into the wellbore under gravity. The hot solvent dissolved the wax before being produced back to the surface.




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