Application of Nano-Material Based Hybrid Pour-Point Depressant for Long-Distance Waxy Crude Pipeline

A new type of nano-material based hybrid pour-point depressant with significant efficiency has been developed and successfully used in industrial application. For Daqing crude oil, a typical high waxy Chinese crude, with 80–100g/t new pour-point depressant and 58–65°C thermal treatment temperature, the wax appearance temperature of the Daqing crude oil can be decreased by 3–4°C. The viscosity/pour-point reduction, shearing resistance, and fluidity at low temperature of the modified crude with new type of pour-point depressant is much better than the effect of using traditional ethylene-vinyl acetate (hereinafter referred as “EVA”). Therefore the safe shutdown time for a pipeline is dramatically increased which not only enhances the safety of the pipeline operation but also significantly saves the energy consumption of the pipeline company. Besides, the reheating temperature can only be greatly reduced to 35°C. The relationship between the crystal structure of the nano-material based pour-point depressant and the type of the waxy crude, together with its influence on the crystal form/wax appearance temperature of the waxy crude by using X ray diffraction (hereinafter referred as “XRD”) and Polarizing microscope (hereinafter referred as “POM”)are studied.