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Useful And Essential Facts About Paraffin Removal Oil Wells

By Amy Wright


The world of today is powered by petroleum fuels. These fuels are mined from various places around the world. The Middle East is one of the regions that is well-known for its large deposits of oil resources. Several economies in this region rely on oil in large part. Other countries that have huge deposit of oil resources are the United States, Russia, and Africa. Here are facts regarding Paraffin Removal Oil Wells.

The oil extraction process comes with many challenges. The deposition of organic deposits around and inside the wellbore is among the most recurrent issues. These deposits can be grouped into two main categories, which are paraffin and asphaltenes. The deposits are formed in the tubing or in the pores of the reservoir.

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 high-molecular-weight alkanes that form in wellbores, feed line, and other spaces and components in boring arrangements. Usually, the thickness of the deposits increases over time and after growing to large sizes, they can cause a considerable reduction in the production of oil. After reaching this level, some remedial steps should be taken so that full production can be restored.

Deposits usually range in hardness from very hard to brittle deposits. The deposits usually get bigger and firmer as the molecular weight of the paraffins increases. In most cases paraffins and asphaltenes occur separately, but in some cases, they occur together. The deposition is usually caused by the loss of solubility of the crude oil involved. Loss of solubility is caused by several factors such as changes in content of the oils and change in pressure and temperature.

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.

Mechanical methods involve the use of knives and scrappers to remove the deposits of wax in wellbores. Mechanical methods vary in the level of efficiency depending on the factors surrounding the deposits. These methods are relatively inexpensive to use. They are used a lot by many companies on their oil fields.

Solvents are employed commonly as well. Here, crude oil is applied on wellbores so that paraffin deposits can be removed. The crude oils that are used in this procedure are heated to temperatures of 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The oils that are hot are then fed or injected into the wellbore under gravity. Before the hot solvent is produced back to the surface, it dissolves the wax.




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