Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Abstract. Paraffin deposition is a serious problem in the production and transport of heavy oil, causing a large increase in the cost of these operations. If paraffinic oil is transported through pipelines exposed to low environmental temperatures, it will lose energy as heat to the wall of the duct and the process of formation and deposition of paraffin crystals will begin on the inner wall. This phenomenon may result in additional spending of energy due to pumping, decreasing of oil production and environmental hazards due to oil spilling. The influence of thermodynamic model for paraffin deposition and the operating conditions during transport are evaluated for determining the profile of wax deposition. The thermodynamic models simulated have been experimentally validated and the influence of the operating conditions in the formation of the deposit is in qualitative agreement with experimental observations extracted from the literature