Characterization of wax using potential energy and nanocalculation

Abstract

Most reservoir fluids contain heavy paraffinic compounds that may precipitate as a solid or solid like material called wax if the fluid is cooled down. Wax precipitation is a phenomenon of considerable importance in oil industry. An increase in aggregation results in enhanced oil viscosity. This however causes significant negative effects on production, transportation and processing of crude oil. So, structural characterization of wax is considered to be important topic. In this work, normal paraffin molecules C₂₀, C₂₁, C₂₃, C₂₄, C₂₅, C₂₇, and C₂₉ have been considered as representatives of wax molecule. Intermolecular forces have been calculated using quantum mechanics and statistical analysis. Second virial coefficients have been obtained for these molecules by applying intermolecular potential energy. Finally SRK and PR equation of states parameters have been achieved to have molecular consideration of wax structure.