Estimating wall sticking occurrence temperature based on adhesion force theory

Abstract During the high water-cut period of oil fields, traditional heating and gathering techniques often cause huge energy waste. Therefore, determining the reliable low temperature gathering boundary is a key concern for the petroleum industry. The wall sticking occurrence temperature (WSOT) is the main parameter for judging the boundary conditions of low temperature gathering and transportation. In this paper, a theoretical model is proposed for estimating the WSOT. By analyzing the spreading pressure, oil wetting was confirmed to dominate the oil-water system. Adhesion mechanism was then employed and adhesion force, thermal motion force as well as shear force was incorporated in the model development. Good agreement was observed between model and experimental results with the error of 1.5 °C. Moreover, the WSOT was found to increase with increasing emulsion radius and pour point, and decreasing shear force.