Influence of particle size of dispersed phase on oil-water emulsion wax deposition

A cold finger experiment is carried out to study the influence of particle size and distribution of dispersed phase of water-in-oil emulsions on wax deposition law in the oil and water system. The results show that when the stirring time remain unchanged, with the increase in the stirring rate in preparing emulsion, the number of small liquid droplets in dispersed phase increases, while the number of big liquid droplets decreases. When the water cut remains unchanged, with the reduction in the diameter of the dispersed droplets in the emulsion system and the increase in the number of small liquid droplets, the wax deposition rate decreases. The high-temperature gas chromatography (HTGC) analysis of sediment components shows that under the condition of same experiment time, dispersed phase particle size and distribution of water-in-oil emulsion only have a significant effect on the thickness of the wax deposited layer, but has little influence on mass fraction in the deposition layer. The study results have laid foundation for further study of the characteristics of wax deposition in oil and water flow conditions.