Synthesis of chemical additives and their effect on Akholjuni crude oil (Gujarat, India)

High paraffin wax content in crude oil creates a variety of problems during production and transportation through pipelines. One of the main problems is the crystallization and deposition of paraffin wax crystals in the flow line which is more severe in winter. Low ambient temperature relative to pour point of the crude can cause pumping problems. The pour point and rheological properties of the crude oil can be improved by adding requisite amount of a pour point depressant (PPD). The present study deals with the synthesis of copolymers of maleic anhydride and esters of n-alkyl alcohols and unsaturated acid (C 1 1 H 2 0 O 2 ). The resulted copolymers were esterified with two moles of fatty alcohol (C 1 9 H 3 6 O 8 ). The products were evaluated as pour point depressant and flow improver on the Akholjuni crude oil (Gujarat, India). The pour point and rheological behaviour of the crude oil with these prepared additives were studied. The results were encouraging up to the optimum length of pendant side chains of PPD.