Heat transfer performance of thermal-washing process for crude oil pipeline

Abstract

Study on the thermal wash multiphase flow and heat transfer characteristics have important significance to reduce energy consumption in wax removal. The ther-mal washing process of multiphase flow melting characteristics was simulated based on VOF model and RNG k-ε turbulence model. The melting temperature and pressure curves of wax were obtained under different initial conditions. The results show that the distribution of temperature in the pipe is uneven due to the action of gravity. Compared with the water temperature, the flow velocity has a greater influence on convection type. When the flow velocity is 0.5 m/s, the flow pattern of liquid wax is mainly suspended flow. When the flow velocity is 2 m/s, the wall flow is observed. The greater speed is or the higher temperature is, the faster melting rate is. The temperature increment varies with positions of the pipeline. A suitable condition for heat clean of wax was determined, which could save the cost of natural gas.