Oil Field Chemicals
Flow Assurance Chemicals
Moving produced oil and gas from the reservoir to the point of sale or final disposition
involves effectively mitigating potentially problematic challenges, including gas
hydrates, asphaltene, wax, scale, emulsions, corrosion and naphthenates.
The financial loss incurred from unscheduled production interruption or asset damage
due to a flow assurance event can be significant. Improperly applied chemicals can lead
to precipitation of insoluble mineral scale deposits while producing and transporting
hydrocarbon and produced water. This may cause formation damage or solid deposits
in flow lines, which can lead to reduced production and potentially catastrophic
blockages in the pipelines.
We offer a full solution flow assurance service to ensure the successful and cost-
effective flow of hydrocarbon streams from the reservoir to the point of sale. Vira
Baspar’s best-in-class chemistries are formulated as multifunctional for the mitigation
of a variety of oil production issues including wax, asphaltene, gas hydrate and scale.
Wax Inhibitor
Many crudes contain dissolved waxes that can precipitate and deposit under the
appropriate environmental conditions during production, transportation, or storage.
These can build up in production equipment and pipelines, potentially restricting flow
(reducing volume produced) and creating other problems. Important factors
influencing paraffin wax precipitation are: temperature, climatic conditions, cooling
rates of storage tanks and pipelines, and rheological parameters in the pipelines.
Vira Baspar’s wax inhibitor comprises a range of specialty products taken from different
chemical classes. It helps prevent wax-induced plugging of pipelines and improves the
rheological properties of highly viscous, paraffinic crudes. Our products help to make
your pipeline operations more effective, through avoiding pumping interruptions and
reducing total costs.
Asphaltene Inhibitor
Asphaltene molecules are present in most liquid oil and gas streams, and can easily be
destabilized by a variety of inherent production scenarios. Once destabilized, they may
precipitate and partition to the oil/water interface, or adhere to the surfaces of piping
and equipment. These reactions can cause production losses with blocked pipelines,
reduced production flow, difficulty in vessel level control, and reduced system
efficiency.
Asphaltene inhibitors prevent the aggregation of asphaltene molecules so the chemical
treatment could be as an injection into the wellbore. Asphaltene inhibitors also
commonly work as asphaltene dispersants (ADs), thereby dispersing ready-formed
asphaltene agglomerates. Therefore, the treatment products will also perform when
injected into pipelines and will improve crude oil transportation.
Asphaltene inhibitor (AI) refers to chemical additives that help prevent asphaltene
deposition when dosed at very low concentrations into the oil (up to a few hundred
parts per million by volume), unlike asphaltene solvents that typically require much
higher concentrations to work (percent level).
Vira Baspar has a wide selection of asphaltene inhibitors, dispersants and specialty
chemical solutions to treat asphaltene stability related issues. These solutions provide
a customized chemical application process that will help mitigate the risks related to
the production of unstable asphaltenic crude. The benefits are 1- Reduce the
precipitation of asphaltenes from crude oil; 2- Maximize production potential by
preventing deposition/restriction in flowlines and tubulars; 3- Preserve asset integrity
and reliability of subsea wells and flowlines; and 4- Optimize performance of surface
treating operations, maintaining throughput and minimizing down time.
Drag reducing agent
Drag Reducing Agents reduce the frictional pressure within the flow of a pipeline or
conduit. Acting as buffers along the pipe wall, drag reducing agents are long-chain
hydrocarbon polymers that decrease the amount of energy lost in turbulent formation.
Using drag reducing agents enables operators to increase pipeline flow using the same
amount of energy, or decrease the pressure drop for the same fluid flow rate.
Vira Baspar drag reducing agents form part of our extensive oilfield chemicals range.
Easy to handle with an extensive operating temperature range from -50°C to 40°C our
products are suited to both crude and refined oil applications.
Vira Baspar drag reducing agents engineered to:
Increase pipeline flow capacity and optimize efficiency by reducing line pressure
Eliminate additional costs by eliminating intermediate pump stations from system designs
De-bottleneck pipeline systems without expensive equipment upgrades
Reduce energy consumption by minimizing drag within the pipeline
Lower operating pressure without sacrificing pipeline capacity
Gas hydrate inhibitor
The formation of gas hydrates is a major nuisance to the oil and gas industry, causing
pipelines to plug, gas flow disruptions and safety issues. The gas hydrate formation in
oil and gas pipelines is an undesirable situation, undermining the flow assurance
programs in addition to posing threat to the personnel and equipment. Clathrate
hydrates are non-stoichiometric mixtures of water and natural gas in which the gas
molecules are trapped in polygonal crystalline structure made of water molecules. The
water molecules arrange themselves in an orderly fashion around the gas molecules,
thus entrapping them. These gas hydrates have the appearance of ice but can form
well above the freezing point of water at high pressures.
Vira Baspar has a highly effective and evolving suite of chemicals, equipment, and
services that are at the forefront of industry efforts regarding low-dosage hydrate
inhibitors (LDHIs). These inhibitors form part of the PREVENT suite of trusted products
and services to preempt and mitigate production issues. The LDHI portfolio is
environmentally acceptable and provides capex-efficient alternatives to commonly
used thermodynamic inhibitors such as methanol and glycol. Vira Baspar LDHIs
maintain flow either by interfering with the mechanism of hydrate formation or by
preventing small gas-hydrate particles from agglomerating, thereby helping to ensure
that production is maximized and equipment unaffected.
Scale inhibitor
Oilfield scale inhibition is the process of preventing the formation of scale from blocking
or hindering fluid flow through pipelines, valves, and pumps used in oil production and
processing. Scale inhibitors are a class of specialty chemicals that are used to slow or
prevent scaling in water systems. Oilfield scaling is the precipitation and accumulation
of insoluble crystals (salts) from a mixture of incompatible aqueous phases in oil
processing systems. Scale is a common term in the oil industry used to describe solid
deposits that grow over time, blocking and hindering fluid flow through pipelines,
valves, pumps etc. with significant reduction in production rates and equipment
damages. Scaling represents a major challenge for flow assurance in the oil and gas
industry. Examples of oilfield scales are calcium carbonate (limescale), iron sulfides,
barium sulfate and strontium sulfate. Scale inhibition encompasses the processes or
techniques employed to treat scaling problems.
Inorganic scales refer to mineral deposits that occur when the formation water mixes
with different brines such as injection water. The mixing changes causes reaction
between incompatible ions and changes the thermodynamic and equilibrium state of
the reservoir fluids. Supersaturation and subsequent deposition of the inorganic salts
occur. The most common types of inorganic scales known to the oil/gas industry are
carbonates and sulfates; sulfides and chlorites are often encountered.
Our specially formulated scale inhibitors can give excellent protection from calcium
carbonate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate and strontium sulfate types of scale
deposition in oil/gas producing operations and brines.
