Download or read book Experimental Investigation of Wax Deposition in Polyethylene Pipe written by Xiangrui Zhu and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wax deposition is an intrinsic problem existing in the production and transportation of waxy crude oil. In the oilfield, non-metallic pipe especially polyethylene pipe has been widely used to solve corrosion problems. However, few experimental studies focused on wax deposition in polyethylene pipes in recent decades. In the present research, a series of polyethylene (PE) and stainless steel (SS) flow-loop experiments with waxy crude oil were performed to investigate the variation of wax deposit thickness under the laminar flow regime. Unlike the SS pipe, it was found that the deposit layer was not formed in the first few hours for PE pipe. The effects of surface roughness and free energy were analyzed and employed to elucidate the deposition delay for PE pipe. Besides, the difference of heat transfer characteristics between the SS pipe and PE pipe also influences the formation of wax deposit layer. The comparisons and findings of wax deposition between the two kinds of pipes have provided a significant reference for the application of non-metallic pipe in the oilfield.