Investigations on Recovery of Apparent Viscosity of Crude Oil After Magnetic Fluid Conditioning
The reduction in viscosity of crude oil due to magnetic field and its subsequent recovery after certain time is an important method of paraffin wax deposition control. It is less energy-intensive than the commonly used heating method. Three crude oils wit
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and K. S. Wani
1 Introduction Transportation of viscous crude oil through subsea pipelines is a critical energyintensive job in the oil industry. When the temperature of crude oil falls below the wax appearance temperature (WAT), paraffin wax precipitates which increases the apparent viscosity of crude oil. This requires extra pumping power thereby leading to an increase in the number of pumping stations. The overall result is decreased production rate, equipment breakdown and production shutdown [1]. Heating of pipelines is the most commonly used treatment method. It is an efficient method but the energy requirements make it highly expensive. On the other hand, magnetic fluid conditioning method claims to be economical. It is based on the fact that when crude is treated with magnetic field, the apparent viscosity decreases thereby easing the transportation of oil. The mechanism of reduction in viscosity is based on two different theories, viz. the aggregation theory and the disaggregation theory. The aggregation theory is based on Einstein’s suspension theory as interpreted by Tao [2] which accounts for the localization of paraffin particles when subjected to magnetic field thereby reducing the viscosity. On the other hand, the disintegration theory states that magnetic treatment results in the disaggregation of paraffin particles in crude oil. Under normal circumstances, as temperature approaches WAT, the paraffin particles begin to agglomerate. Energy induced by the magnetic field disintegrates these particles. They acquire weak dipole moments and get aligned in the direction of the magnetic field. These A. D. Kulkarni (B) Department of Petroleum and Petrochemical Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Pune, India e-mail: [email protected] K. S. Wani Department of Chemical Engineering, SSBT College of Engineering and Technology, Jalgaon, India © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 M. Bose and A. Modi (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research, Springer Proceedings in Energy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5955-6_29
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dipoles generate repulsive forces and lead to disturbance in the crystal agglomeration process. The rheological properties change and the viscosity of the oil decreases. Experimental evidence in the literature has been found in the favour of the disintegration theory. Loskutova [3] considered crude oil as a dispersion of paraffins, asphaltenes and resins in lower hydrocarbons. Application of magnetic field leads to the destruction of this colloidal structure and resulted in a decrease in viscosity. Using scanning electron microscopy, Rocha [4] had shown that the embryos of paraffins which just began to grow in size near the WAT underwent disintegration under the action of magnetic field. Experiments by Evdokimov [5] showed that oils when subjected to magnetic field underwent ultraviolet (UV) spectrum extinction. This suggested a decrease in the size of suspended particles as a result
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