Experimental and simulation studies on the use of plant oils as flow improver for waxy crude oil

Alteration of thermodynamic equilibrium conditions, most especially, temperature, during production andtransportation of crude oil could cause destabilization, precipitation, and deposition of wax. This couldaffect the flow properties of the crude oil including the viscosity, pour point, and may eventually causetotal blockage of the flow lines. In this investigation, synthetic waxy crude oil (containing differentconcentrations of dissolved paraffin wax (5 - 20% wt./wt.) was doped with selected plant seed oils, namely,Castor oil, Moringa oil and Coconut oil (0 - 1.5% v/v). The efficiency of each of the additives to improvethe flow properties was compared with those of commercial flow improver, Triethanolamine (TEA). Inaddition, similar process was modelled and simulated using HYSYS process simulator. It was found thatMoringa and Castro oils show good results to improve the pour point. On the other hand, the Coconut oilwas observed to have negative effect by increasing the pour point of the oil. Ultimately, experimental studiesreveal the potential of the plant oil to improve the flow properties of the waxy oil, while the simulationstudies confirm the potential of the plant oil to reduce wax deposition volume and thickness, viscosity, andtotal pressure drop.