Flow Assurance Issues and Control with Naphthenic Oils

Abstract

Naphthenic oil production is known to be made difficult by stable emulsion formation and possible scaling of calcium naphthenates. From a flow assurance point of view, it is of major importance to foresee these two possible issues at the earliest stage of the project development especially for deep-offshore fields. In this article, a classification of crude oils based on density, acidity and acid types is proposed. Process schemes adapted to the different oil types are also described.

Keywords:

• Calcium naphthenates
• emulsions
• flow assurance
• naphthenic oil

The authors thank S. Tallet, G. Salabert, and T. Vaudano for their technical assistance and M. Bourrel and J. L. Volle for helpful discussions.