Rheological Characteristics of a Gelled Crude Oil

A new rheological equation is prcsented for cvaluating a nonelastic, thixotropic, gelled, waxy crude based on the Noll theory. When crude is sheared, the change of structure is governed by two independent processes, first, the weak linkage between wax crystals will broken, causing the fluid stress to decrease with increasing shear rate. The struture state is denoted by λ₁. On the other hand, the wax crystals will rearrange, causing the liquid viscosity to chenge. The degree of treatment is denoted by λ₂。Based on laboratory test, using RV-Ⅱ viscometer, five rheological parameter and four thixotropic parameter for the equation were obtained. It is found that proposed equation correctly predicted the rheological charateristics of above mentioned crude.