Wax Removal by Hot Oiling
Another method of removing hydrocarbon deposits from the tubing and casing is the use of hot oil . This is performed by circulating the hot oil down the casing and back up the tubing to remove the deposits from the well bore. This method works by melting the hydrocarbon deposits. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the melted hydrocarbons are not deposited in the formation. This happens when the hot oil introduced into the formation is saturated with melted paraffin and asphaltene and when the formation temperature is lower than the cloud point of the hot oil. Under these circumstances the precipitation of paraffin and asphaltene from the crude oil will occur and consequently cause permeability reduction and damage to the formation. Therefore it is very important to add PARC400® Chemical to the hot oil to prevent any precipitation of paraffin or asphaltene in the formation.
Increase the safety and effectiveness of your Hot Oil treatments:
Hot oil treatment, or “Hot-oiling”, is one of the methods used to remove paraffin and asphaltene deposits from oil wells. Hot-oiling has serious drawbacks that prevent it from being the primary method of paraffin and asphaltene removal in petroleum production.
To understand how PARC400® Chemical makes the Hot Oil treatment more effective and increase their safety we must first look into how hot-oiling actually works and each of the associated drawbacks.
Hot oil treatments are used for the removal of deposited paraffin and asphaltene in the tubing, casing and formation. Crude Oil from a storage tank is heated and then pumped down the annulus. While the hot oil is moving down the annulus, it comes in contact with the outside of the tubing and begins to melt the deposited paraffin and asphaltene from the outside in. While the pumping continues the paraffin and asphaltene is melted and removed along with produced oil. It is important to understand that in most cases the hot oil used will be too cold by the time it comes back through the tubing to melt any paraffin or asphaltene deposited in the tubing. The heat loss of the hot oil from the formation, casing, and tubing is very high, hence, most of the paraffin and asphaltene is melted due to the hot oil on its way down the annulus.
The main problems that occur when Hot Oiling without a blend of PARC400® Chemical in the Hot Oil
- The crude oil used for the hot oil job is loaded from the bottom of the tank where the highest content of paraffin and asphaltene is in the crude oil.
- Then the hot oil is pumped down the annulus and by the time it reaches the formation it has lost most of its heat, hence the cooled “hot oil” has no further melting ability and precipitation of the wax in the crude oil occurs.
- Hydrostatic Pressure created from the column of fluid in the casing forces the “cooled” crude oil, which now also contains the wax from the casing, into the formation which can cause more wax problems than you originally had.
- I hope this helps you understand the negative effect of hot oiling a well without adding a blend of PARC400® Chemical to the hot oil and the positive effect and results you achieve when PARC400® Chemical is added to any hot oil job!!