Flow enhancement of medium-viscosity crude oil

Mamdouh T. Ghannam, Nabil Esmail

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study investigated the different alternatives to enhance the flowability of crude oil with medium viscosity. These alternatives include the addition of water into crude oil to form water-in-oil emulsion, the addition of light petroleum product, the addition of flow improver, and a preheating technique. Temperature range of 10-50°C, water concentration range of 0-50% by volume, flow improver concentration range of 0-5000 ppm, and kerosene concentration range of 0-50% by volume were investigated in the flowability enhancement study of crude oil with medium viscosity. The flowability enhancement in terms of viscosity reduction was investigated using RheoStress RS100 from Haake. A cone-plate sensor was used with a cone angle of °4, cone diameter of 35 mm, and 0.137-mm gap at the cone tip. The addition of kerosene to crude oil improves the flowability much better than any other investigated technique.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)985-999
Number of pages15
JournalPetroleum Science and Technology
Volume24
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 1 2006

Keywords

  • Flow improver
  • Loss modulus
  • Storage modulus
  • Viscosity reduction
  • Water/oil emulsion

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology

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