Some advances in crude oil rheology and its application

Abstract

Waxy crude oil exhibits complex shear-and-thermal-history-dependent non-Newtonian behaviors. In the past 10 years, driven by the petroleum industry, crude oil rheology has been an active field. Studies on crude oil rheology have been passing a way from simply relying on rheological measurements, through quantitative experimental simulation of shear and thermal history effects in pipelining, to recent development of correlation between flow properties and shear and thermal history. Currently, the study is toward quantitative inquiry of relations between the rheological behaviors and micro-structures of wax crystals as well as oil compositions. Advances achieved by the author’ team are summarized, including simulation of the thermal and shear history effects, correlations and computation of flow properties, fractal characterization of morphology and structure of wax crystals, relations of rheological behaviors to fractal dimension and oil compositions, and the most successful example of the application of rheology in crude oil pipelining. Future studies are prospected.

Keywords

waxy crude oil / rheology / advances / prospect

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