Removal and tribological behaviors of waxy deposition layer in cleaning process
Abstract
Purpose
The wax deposition in oil wells and pipelines is very viciously negative to the petroleum extraction and crude oil transportation, and it even causes severe blockage accident. This study aims to describe cleaning experiments performed on wax deposition of different deposition layer and experimental conditions to investigate the removal and tribological properties and chip formation.
Design/methodology/approach
An optical arrangement was used to visually record the cleaning process, whereas the friction forces were measured by a custom-built tribometer. Various measurements were performed with tool rake angles of 45° and −30° and cleaning depths from 1 to 5 mm.
Findings
Results from experiments and modeling suggest that the transition of chip was dependent on rake angle, wax performance and cleaning depth. While the cleaning depth increased, the friction and cleaning resistant force also increased. With the increase of cleaning depth, the wax layer cleaning quantity increased and the chip strengthened; hence, the curvature radius of chip was enhanced to form platy chip. The chip of wax–oil mixture was discontinuous units, and it was easy to adhere on the rake face with the increasing depth of cut. With an increase in cleaning depth, the friction and cleaning-resistant force also increased.
Originality/value
It is concluded that for effectively cleaning and stabilizing of pipeline cleaning machine, different cleaning parameters should be applied to accommodate wax layer or wax–oil mixture.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51675534), the Tribology Science Fund of State Key Laboratory of Tribology (No. SKLTKF14A08) and the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum, Beijing (No. 2462017BJB06, 2462015YQ0401, C201602).
Citation
Guo, Y., Liu, S., Tan, G., Yang, L. and Wang, D. (2017), "Removal and tribological behaviors of waxy deposition layer in cleaning process", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 69 No. 4, pp. 566-573. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-11-2015-0179
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited