High Pressure in Flow Line

A customer in East Central Alberta producing Sparky Zone oil was experiencing line pressure issues. This field has all 2-inch flow lines, and some of the line pressures were approaching 350 psi and causing some of the wells to Presco out due to high pressure. This particular oil has a high paraffin content as well as it's very emulsified; very little free water. After a great deal of field-testing various paraffin dispersants and solvents, we came up with a water-soluble dispersant that worked well on the paraffin issue and also broke some of the highly emulsified oil and water produced which in turn significantly lowered the line pressures. We were able to reduce the line pressures from 350 psi down to 95-100 psi, and on wells with line pressures of 150-175 psi the pressures were decreased down to 90-95 psi. Along with the pressure decreases, we were also able to lower the chemical rates by 40%. In the end, we solved the pressure problems and saved the customer money even though the new water-soluble dispersant cost more per litre with the 40% chemical rate reduction; the savings were significant.