Utilization of Vegetable Oil for Crude Oil Pour Point Reduction in Hydrocarbon Wells and Surface Facilities

The ability of the crude oil to flow with little obstruction is one of the key features that allow us to produce it. Any factor that can impact the flowability of the oil will result in a reduction in oil production and may even result in safety hazards and equipment damage or malfunction. Pour point temperature is the lowest temperature at which the crude oil will remain flowing; if the temperature falls beneath the pour point, the oil will cease to flow. This research investigates the ability of vegetable oil to act as a pour point depressant for crude oil at different concentrations and compares its performance to that of two other pour point depressants including methanol and vinyl acetate monomer. The concentrations tested include 500, 1000, and 2000 ppm and the experimental vessel used was constructed as per the ASTM D97 standards. The results showed that the vegetable oil managed to reduce the pour point of the crude oil and even outperformed the methanol. The performance of the vinyl acetate was higher, however with extreme different in price and handling and toxicity of the vinyl acetate compared to the vegetable oil, the performance of the vegetable oil has significant advantages. This research emphasizes the need for less costly and less toxic and environmentally damaging chemicals in the oil and gas industry to improve its environmental footprint and overall effectiveness in flow assurance.