Flowrox launches industrial instrument for pipeline depositions
Flowrox, a specialist in heavy-duty industrial valve, pumps and instrumentation manufacturing and service, is releasing a new instrument to the oil & gas market designed to enhance the monitoring of pipelines and related flow-process equipment affected by paraffin wax and asphaltene depositions.
The Flowrox Deposition Watch is a predictive device, as opposed to a reactive solution, allowing its operators to address deposition issues well before these reach critical levels that can cause downtime or costly damage.
Crude oil contains a variety of molecular substances that challenge oil & gas companies with the build-up of paraffin wax when it crystallises into a solid deposition on the pipe wall - along with the accumulation of asphaletene - which can altogether reduce the fluid flow or plug pipes and valves.
Deposition of paraffin wax and asphaltenes is a common reason for a major decrease in production and revenue in oil wells as it affects valves, pumps and pipelines, along with other pipeline components critical to the fluid control process.
The Flowrox Deposition Watch was developed specifically for use in the oil & gas industry, allowing customers to generate real-time images of any depositions affecting a piping system without ever having to open up the pipeline and slow down production.
The watch can model mathematically deposition profiles and provide calculations on the free available pipe remaining.
Using the Flowrox Deposition Watch will allow companies to make better decisions regarding when to add chemicals and the frequency of addition for treatment of depositions, as well as allowing them to make better decisions regarding when to disassemble a pipeline for manual cleaning.
The product utilises electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) to create real time images of the inside of the piping and uses electrical capacitance tomography to detect the differences in permittivity of the various substances found in the piping system.
In addition, it utilises a patented algorithm that creates a 3D image of the process fluid in the piping and generates trend data as well as show free volume inside the pipe and the growth rate of the deposition growth over time.
Ultimately, the Flowrox Deposition Watch can show its operators the deposition thickness, deposition profile, growth rates over time, composition, and free flow volume - all of which allow engineers to understand areas where pipes are prone to these damaging deposits.
