Experimental study on the effect of wax inhibitor and nanoparticles on rheology of Malaysian crude oil

In Malaysia, solid depositions of paraffin wax in the inner walls of production and transportation pipelines, and on the surface of production equipment have been identified as the utmost challenge in production and transportation of crude oil. In order to overcome the wax deposition issue, physical characterization of crude oil is crucial. In this study, the performance of wax inhibitor and nanoparticle, sodium cloisite Na+ is evaluated to determine their effects on the viscosity of crude oil using Brookfield DV-III viscometer. Nanoparticle was used along with 500, 800, 1000, 2000 and 5000 ppm of Poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) and Poly (maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (MA). Nanoparticle alone was able to lower the viscosity of crude oil to about 92.5%. EVA and MA were able to reduce the viscosity up to 88% and 86.4%, respectively while EVA and MA added to nanoparticle was able to reduce the viscosity up to about 94% and 89.2%. The blend between wax inhibitor and nanoparticle provides significant reduction in viscosity of crude oil. © 2019 King Saud University