Page 12 - Handbook Of Multiphase Flow Assurance

6 1. Introduction

Fig. 1.3 Hydrate slush accumulated and compacted in service platform scraper receiver during
flowline depressurization offshore Brazil, ca 1992.

Fig. 1.4 Hydrate extracted from service platform scraper receiver after subsea line depressurization.
The compacted hydrate remained solid and did not break upon falling from the scraper receiver.

accumulate, which restricts normal production. In some cases, condensates produced with
free gas from deposits may contain heavier hydrocarbon molecules so wax can deposit from
condensate during gas production as well as during oil production. In subsea practice, one
solid may lead to another.
In the analysis of wax deposition, one should distinguish such fluid characteristics as
wax appearance temperature (WAT) when the first visible or detectable solid wax crystal
precipitate, and wax dissolution temperature (WDT) when the precipitated wax crystals
completely redissolve in the volume of oil from which they crystallized. There is also an-
other term which is important for wax management design: the “wax deposit melting