An approach to the prediction of wax and asphaltene deposition in a pipeline based on Couette device experimental data

An analysis of similarities of turbulent flows in a pipeline and a Couette device is performed. The transport processes in both cases are determined mainly by the boundary layer structure. A wax deposition model requires a single parameter to be determined from the Couette flow experiments. The asphaltene deposition modeling is more complicated and presented by the model framework only. The effect of the centrifugal force on asphaltene particle transport in a Couette device is investigated numerically. An approach to modeling wax deposition in a pipe based on Couette device experimental results is illustrated by a numerical example. The approaches developed can be straightforwardly applied for the transport pipeline design.