Energy & Fuels, Vol.16, No.4, 887-891, 2002
A compositional model simulating wax deposition in pipeline systems
A new algorithm for calculating deposition of wax in pipeline systems is presented. The algorithm considers steady-state conditions and handles multiphase flow. Pressure drop and liquid holdup along the pipeline is calculated using a standard steady-state point model, while the energy balances and thermodynamic equilibria are solved consecutively using a pressure-enthalphy (PH) flash algorithm which has been modified to account for wax formation. The approach allows heat exchanged in connection with phase transitions to be accounted properly for in the simulations. The algorithm is fully compositional. The model accounts for deposition due to both molecular diffusion and shear dispersion. To ensure a fast and efficient solution of the problem, the program generates an optimized discretization of the pipeline, based on an analytically derived temperature profile.