J ournal of Nat ural Gas Chemist ry 16(2007)293300

Art icle

T h e P ossib ilit y of W ax For m at ion in G as F ield s: a C ase St u d y

Z. J eirani1 ,

A. Lashanizadegan 1 ,

Sh. Ayatollahi1 ,

J . J avanmardi2

1. School of C hem ica l a nd P etroleum E n gin eer in g, Shira z Univer sity, Shira z, Ira n;
2. School of Chemica l E n gin eer in g, Shira z Un iver sity of Techn ology, Shiraz, Ira n
[ Manuscript received March 2, 2007; revised J uly 10, 2007 ]

A b st r a ct : Nat ural gas product ion from a gas reservoir (Reservoir A) locat ed in t he sout h of Iran, present s
solids dep osit ion during processing because t he condensat e cont ains suspended and dissolved solids. Solids
dep osit ion occurs not only in t he t ransport at ion lines from t he wells t o t he separat ors but also in t he
various op erat ing unit s of gas st reams and condensat e st ream. In t his st udy, t he mult isolid-phase model
has b een used t o predict t he wax precipit at ion from gas and gas condensat e fluids. T he propert ies of gas
and liquid phases are described using t he Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equat ion of st at e. T he model is
t hen used t o predict t he possibility of t he wax format ion in Reservoir A gas facilit ies, locat ed at t he sout h
of Iran. Solid deposit ion which occurred in t he various st reams of t hat facility confirmed t he calculat ed
result s. F inally, t he wax app earance t emperat ure (WAT ), t he weight percent of wax format ion and t he
effect s of pressure and t emp erat ure on t he wax format ion were also predict ed.
K ey w or d s: wax precipit at ion; fluid phase equilibria; mult isolid model; gas condensat e

1. I n t r o d u ct ion
Gas and gas-condensat e fluids cont ain a very wide
range of hydrocarbons from met hane and et hane, t o
t he component s as heavy as C 40 or C 50 or much higher
hydrocarbons. It is believed t hat t he broad volat ility
and melt ing-point range of t hese hydrocarbon component s will cause t he format ion of solid phases in
response t o t hermodynamic st at e changes. Hydrocarbon solid precipit at ions such as wax and asphalt ene in
t he gas and oil product ion facilit ies and pipelines are
undesirable because it may plug t hem. Wax precipit at ion can occur from gas condensat e, light oil, and
heavy oil fluids at t emperat ures as high as 338.7 K.
T he wax precipit at ion from crude has been ext ensively st udied; however, t he precipit at ion from gas
condensat es has been invest igat ed recent ly by some
researchers.
It is generally accept ed t hat almost any form of
solid deposit ion during t he product ion and processing
of oil and gas st reams has unfavorable economic and

operat ional consequences [1]. Typically, t hese precipit at ing solids can be any one of t he pure solids, hydrat es, waxes, asphalt enes, or scales and t hey may
even co-precipit at e.
P et roleum fluids cont ain heavy paraffins t hat
may form solid wax phases at low t emperat ure in
t he pipelines and hydrocarbon product ion facilit ies.
T he problems caused by wax precipit at ion such as
decreasing product ion rat es, increasing power requirement s, and failure of facilit ies, are a ma jor concern
in t he product ion and t ransport at ion of hydrocarbon
fluids. In order t o prevent t his process, which is linked
t o changing pressure and t emperat ure condit ions and
fluid composit ion, it is essent ial t o be able t o predict
t he phase behavior of t he reservoir fluid.
Wax precipit at ion is an old problem for which at t empt s have been made t o develop a t hermodynamic
descript ion. Modeling solid deposit ion allows t he engineer t o carry out a variety of t asks from screening
for potent ial problems t hrough t o possible remediat ion should t hey occur. Used in conjunct ion wit h field

Corr esp onding aut hor. Tel: 0098-711-6275678; Fax: 0098-711-6287294; E -m ail: shahab@shirazu.ac.ir

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Z. J eirani et al./ J ournal of Nat ural G as C hem ist ry Vol. 16 No. 3 2007

experience and appropriat e laborat ory measurement s

models can be used t o predict t he condit ions under
which solids may form, on t he basis of a st raight forward fluid analysis of t he gas, condensat e or oil, and
t o consider and compare possible correct ive act ions
such as alt ering t he operat ing condit ions or int roducing chemical inhibit ion.
T he cloud point t emperat ure or wax appearance
t emperat ure (WAT ), where wax is first det ect ed on
cooling, is commonly measured in t he laborat ories.
However, some of t he published met hods for describing wax precipit at ion are in poor agreement wit h
t he experiment al dat a; t hey t end t o overest imat e t he
amount of wax at t emperat ures below t he cloud-point
t emperat ure [2].
Generally, wax precipit at ion models are divided
int o two cat egories: T he first approach is on t he basis
of t he flash-type calculat ions, and t he second one from
direct minimizat ion of t he Gibbs free energy. In t he
flash-type calculat ions, an Equat ion of st at e (EoS) is
applied for vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE) predict ion.
In addit ion, an act ivity model, on t he basis of eit her
regular solut ion t heory or polymer solut ion t heory is
used for solid-liquid equilibria (SLE) [3 6]. T he VLE
and SLE models use two types of t hermodynamic approaches t o describe t he non-ideality of t he liquid
phase: an EoS for VLE and an act ivity coefficient
model for SLE. It is found t hat t hese types of calculat ions, however, are t hermodynamically inconsist ent .
And it was suggest ed by several researchers t hat t he
lat t er approach should employ an EoS for all t hree
phases t o overcome t he discrepancy of vapor-liquidsolid propert ies predict ions [2,7 8]. Because of the
uncert ainty of heavy component s propert ies, some
adjust able paramet ers and a t uning funct ion were int roduced by Mei et al, and also t he influence of t he
heat capacity difference between t he liquid and t he
solid on t he solid precipit at ion was t aken int o considerat ion [9]. Vafaie-Seft i et al. presented a modified
mult isolid phase model for predict ing phase equilibria for oil mixt ures and t he possibility of wax format ions [10]. Zuo et al. developed a solid-solut ion model
using t he P oynt ing correct ion fact or t o est imat e t he
solid fugacity [11]. J i et al. present ed a new t hermodynamic model for t he wax weight percent predict ion t hat had validat ed t he model predict ions were
against t he result s obt ained from t he measurement s
of wax disappearance t emperat ure (WDT ) dat a for a
number of binary and mult i-component syst ems [12].
T he wax precipit at ion at t emperat ures as high as
338.7 K may occur for bot h crude oils and gas con-

densat es [13]. T he wax precipit at ion from crude has

been ext ensively st udied; t he precipit at ion from gas
condensat es, however, has been recent ly invest igat ed
by some researches. Leont arit is point ed out t he possible damage caused by t he near-wellbore format ion as
a result of wax deposit ion from gas condensat es [14].
Moreover, t he aut hors indicat ed t hat t he gas condensat e cont aining high-carbon-number waxes may st art
precipit at ing at t he dew point pressure. T his phenomenon is caused by t he exist ence of t he wax deposit ion
envelope (WDE) as suggest ed by Leont arit is [14].
One of t he most int erest ing feat ures of wax precipit at ion from t he gas condensat e fluids was st udied in det ail by Nichit a and F iroozabadi [15]. It was
found t hat t he precipit at ed wax phase can exhibit ret rograde phenomena similar t o t hat in t he gas condensat es. T his model considers for bot h t he P oynt ing correct ion t erm and t he solid-st at e phase t ransit ions [15].
Reservoir hydrocarbon fluids commonly consist of
bot h liquid and vapor phases at pipeline condit ions.
As ment ioned earlier, t he vapor-liquid equilibrium is
commonly described using an equat ion of st at e. In order t o ensure consist ency in descript ion of t he liquid
phase, t he wax t hermodynamic model must also use
an equat ion of st at e for calculat ing fugacity in t he liquid phase. SRK EoS [16] and P R EoS [17] are popular
for calculating fugacit ies in vapor-liquid syst ems.
Crit ical propert ies are needed t o perform vaporliquid-solid equilibria (VLSE) using t he cubic EoS. It
is almost impossible t o measure direct ly crit ical propert ies of long-chain n -paraffins, because of t heir t hermal decomposit ion at high t emperat ures. As a result ,
different correlat ions have been suggest ed in t he lit erat ure for an est imat ion of t he crit ical propert ies and
acent ric fact ors of t hese compounds [18 19] and t he
est imat ed values can differ from each ot her considerably. On t he ot her hand, t he differences between t he
predict ed and t he experiment al values regarding t he
wax precipit at ion in light hydrocarbon reservoirs are
st ill very high.
Nat ional Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is producing 40 million m 3 / day of nat ural gas and 7000 bbl/ day
of condensat e from a gas field at t he sout h of Iran.
T he separat ed gas is t ransport ed t hrough a 330 km
pipeline t o t he Marun oil field for pressure maint enance. Because of t he format ion of sludgy-deposit ed
mat erials in t he pipelines and separat ors, it is wort hy t o st udy t he possibility of t he wax format ion in
t his gas condensat e reservoir. In t his st udy, t he wax
precipit at ion from t he gas condensat e fluids is st udied
using t he mult isolid phase model. T he correlat ions for

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J ournal of Nat ural G as Chem ist ry Vol. 16 No. 3 2007

P araffinic-Napht enic-Aromat ic (P NA) species given

by Riazi and Al-Sahhaf and P an et al. are used t o predict t he crit ical propert ies [18,8]. T he gas and liquid
propert ies are also described using t he SRK EoS. T he
correlat ions suggest ed by Riazi and Al-Sahhaf for crit ical propert ies, has been recommended in conjunct ion
wit h t he SRK EoS because of t he consist ency between
t he opt imized values of m for heavy paraffins [12].
2. M u lt iSolid p h a se m o d el
Waxes are more difficult t o underst and t han pure
solids because t hey are complex mixt ures of solid hydrocarbons t hat freeze out of crude oils if t he t emperat ure is low enough. Waxes are mainly formed
from deposit ed normal paraffins but isoparaffins and
napht henes are also present and some waxes have an
appreciable aromat ic cont ent . It is known t hat t he
paraffins are t he ma jor component s in t he wax deposit ion and t heir values are great er t han t he values of ot her component s in t he solid phase, and also,
paraffins are t he rst component s t hat come out from
t he precipit at es. Mult isolid model is based on t he precipit at ion of cert ain heavy component s of crude oil
and gas condensat e wit h average propert ies assigned
t o each fract ion [2].
According t o t his model, solid phases, which are
formed from different pure component s, are in equilibrium wit h each ot her and are in equilibrium wit h
liquid and vapor phases. F igure 1 presents t he vaporliquid-solid phases in t his model. T his model assumes
t he precipit at ed species from t he crude oil and gas
condensat e which consist of pure component s t hat do
not mix wit h ot her solid phases aft er precipit at ion [2].

t his expression, will precipit at e, whereas t hose t hat

do not will only be present in t he liquid and vapor
phases.
T he equilibrium crit eria at known t emperat ure
and pressure will result in,
f iv = f il = f is,p u r e

(2)

where f i is t he fugacity of component i.

For non-precipit at ing component s, t he equilibrium condit ion is,
f iv = f il

(3)

In order t o calculat e t he fugacity of each component in pure solid st at e, t he following equat ion is
used [20]:
h fi

f ps u r e,i (P , T ) = f pl u r e,i (P , T ) exp

cp i
R

Tif
T

R Tif
cp i
Tf

ln i
R
T

Tif
T

(4)
where
is t he molar ent halpy of fusion,
t he fusion t emperat ure, cp i t he heat capacity of fusion for
component i, and T is t he t emperat ure of t he syst ems.
h fi

Tif

2.1. Fu ga cit y of p u r e liq u id

Fugacity of each component in pure liquid st at e
is obt ained from t he following equat ion:
f pl u r e,i = lp u r e,i P

(5)

T he fugacity coefficient , lp u r e,i is found using an

equat ion of st ate for component i at t he t emperat ure
and pressure of t he syst em. In t his st udy SRK EoS is
used. Binary int eract ion coefficient s are t he key paramet ers of t his calculat ion found from t he following
equat ion [20]:
1/ 6 1/ 6

kiEj oS = 1.0

T he number and t he nat ure of precipit at ing component s are obt ained from a phase st ability analysis
as follows [2]:
f i (P , T, z i )

0.0

1/ 3

vc i

1/ 3

(6)

+ vc j

where vc is crit ical volume est imat ed from t he following expression [2]:

F ig u r e 1 . M u lt iso lid p h a se fo r w a x p r e cip it a t io n

f is,p u r e (P , T )

2vc i vc j

(1)

where f i (P , T, zi ) is t he fugacity of component i, having feed composit ion z. T he component s t hat fulll

vc i = (R Tc i / P c i )(0.290 0.085i )

(7)

2.2. Fu sion p r op er t ies

Fusion propert ies, used in Equat ion (4), are relat ed t o t he solid precipit at ion or dissolut ion at
different condit ions.

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Z. J eirani et al./ J ournal of Nat ural G as C hem ist ry Vol. 16 No. 3 2007

2.2.1 Fu sion t em p er a t u r e, Tif

For normal alkanes t he following equat ion has
been suggest ed by Won [3]:
Tif = 374.5 + 0.02617M w i

20172
Mwi

(8)

For aromat ics and napht henes, t he following

equat ion has been used by Lira-Galeana et al. [2]:
Tif = 333.5 419 exp( 0.00855M w i )

(9)

2.2.2 E n t h a lp y of fu sion , h fi
For normal alkanes, napht henes, and aromat ics
t he correlat ions suggest ed by Won, Lira-Galeana et al,
and P an et al. have been used, respect ively [2 3,8].
0.1426M w i Tif

(10)

h fi = 0.05276M w i Tif

(11)

h fi = 11.2Tif

(12)

h fi

2.2.3 H ea t ca p a cit y of fu sion , cp i

For all component s, t he correlat ion suggest ed by
P edersen et al. has been used [6].
cp i = 0.3033M w i 4.635 10

Mwi T

To est imat e t he crit ical propert ies of light hydrocarbons, Riazi and Al-Sahhaf correlat ion have been
used in t his st udy [18].
(14)

T he crit ical pressures of component s wit h molecular weight higher t han 300 g/ mol are, however, est imat ed by t he following equat ion [8]:
P c = A B exp( C M w )

ln = 36.1544 + 30.94M w0. 026261 (M w

800)
(16)
For component s with molecular weight great er
t han 800, t he acent ric fact or of 2 has been used.
T he acent ric fact ors for parans and napht henes have
been est imat ed from Riazi and Al-Sahhaf correlat ions [18].
2.4. C r u d e oil sy st em s
P edersen et al. have provided ext ensive dat a
on wax-format ion behavior of five pet roleum mixt ures [6]. T he present ed dat a are widely used by ot her
aut hors in different research works on wax precipit at ion [2,6,7,10].
P an et al. report ed t he composit ions of t hree
ot her pet roleum mixt ures. [8]. T hese syst ems are also
used by Vafaie-Seft i et al. t o det ermine t he amount of
t he precipit at ed wax and t he effect s of pressure [10].
3. R esu lt s a n d d iscu ssion

(13)

2.3. C r it ica l p r op er t ies a n d a cen t r ic fa ct or

ln( ) = a bM wc

T he crit ical t emperat ures for all hydrocarbon component s (aromat ics, napht henes, parans)
are calculat ed from Riazi and Al-Sahhafs correlat ions [18].
T he following correlat ions [8] is used t o est imat e
acent ric fact or of aromat ic component s

(15)

where t he const ant s A, B , and C are present ed in Table 1.

T a b le 1 . T h e va lu e s o f t h e p a r a m e t e r s A , B ,
a n d C in E q u a t io n ( 1 5 )
Coefficient

P araffins

Napht henes

0.67909

2.58854

Arom at ics
4.85196

22.179

27.6292

42.9311

0.0028417

0.0044951

0.0056193

F igures 2 shows t he predict ed wax weight percent for t he oil syst ems given by P edersen et al. and
P an et al. [6,8]. T he F igure indicat es t hat t he predict ions obt ained from t he mult isolid phase model are in
good agreement wit h t he real behaviors of pet roleum
mixt ures. At a given t emperat ure, t he wax weight
percent is calculat ed for one mole of feed using t he
following equat ion:
Wax weight percent =

t ot al precipit at ed mass
100
mass of feed oil

Ns

Mwj
=

Sj
F

100

M w i zi
i

(17)
where N and N s are t he number of t he component s
and t he solid phases which is det ermined from Equat ion (1), respect ively. S j is t he moles of solid phase j
and F is t he feed mole numbers. M w i and z i st and for
t he molecular weight and mole fract ion of component
i, respect ively.

J ournal of Nat ural G as Chem ist ry Vol. 16 No. 3 2007

297

F ig u r e 2 . T h e w e ig h t p e r c e n t o f t h e p r e c ip it a t e d so lid a s a fu n c t io n o f t e m p e r a t u r e fo r d if fe r e n t o ils
(a) No. 1, (b) No. 4, (c) No. 5, (d) No. 6, (e) No. 10, (f) No. 11, (g) No. 12, (h) No. 15

To compare t he result s wit h t he experiment al

dat a and the ot her models, t he wax format ion weight
percent as a funct ion of t emperat ure for different syst ems given by P edersen et al. and P an et al. [6,8]

have also been shown in F igure 2. It should be not ed

t hat t he numbers in t his Figure capt ion are t he mixt ure numbers in references [6,8]. As can be seen, t he
result s of t his st udy are in good agreement wit h t he

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Z. J eirani et al./ J ournal of Nat ural G as C hem ist ry Vol. 16 No. 3 2007

experiment al values. T he over est imat ion found in

ot her works are possibly caused by t he correlat ions
used in t heir models.
In summary, t he correlat ions and t he met hods
used in t his st udy for t he descript ion t hermodynamic
propert ies of different phases have been given as follows:
1. As ment ioned earlier, t he correlat ions suggest ed by Riazi and Al-Sahhaf for t he crit ical propert ies, has been recommended in combinat ion wit h SRK
EoS [12]. T herefore, t he SRK EoS is used here t o calculat e t he fugacity of t he component s in bot h liquid
and vapor phases.
2. Binary int eract ion coefficient s, as t he key paramet ers of VLE calculat ions, are also est imat ed using
equat ion (6) [20].
3. T he same equat ion of st at e (SRK) is used to
calculat e t he fugacit ies of all component s in t he vapor and liquid phases as well as t he fugacit ies of t he
pure liquids, used in Equat ion (4) for calculat ion of
t he fugacit ies of solid phases. T his causes t he t hermoWAT error percent =

dynamic consist ency in t he equilibrium calculat ions.

4. P NA analysis, as a very import ant paramet er
in t he wax calculat ions, is used here t o calculat e t he
average propert ies of t he oil fract ions.
5. T he correlat ions proposed by P an et al. [8]
have been used t o est imat e t he fusion and crit ical
propert ies as well as t he acent ric fact ors of each fract ion.
6. T he heat capacity difference between t he solid
and liquid phases has been t aken int o account t o improve t he calculat ion of solid phase fugacit ies.
It should be not ed t hat no adjust ment paramet ers
have been used in t his work.
As can be seen in Table 2, t he calculat ed cloud
point t emperat ures are compared wit h t he experiment al dat a and ot her works. It has been found t hat t here
is a very close agreement wit h the experiment al dat a.
T he good agreement is more obvious in Table 3 which
gives t he error percent of WAT s. T his paramet er is
calculat ed using t he following equat ion:

calculat ed WAT experiment al WAT

100
experiment al WAT

(18)

T a b le 2 . T h e w a x a p p e a r a n ce t e m p e r a t u r e ( K ) a t P = 1 b a r fo r d if fe r e n t sy st e m s g iv e n b y P e d e r se n et a l. a n d
P a n et a l. [6 ,8 ]
Wax app earance t em p er at ure (K )

O il

P edersen et a l.

Lira-G aleana et a l.

P an et a l.

Vafaie-Seft i et a l.

T his

(1991) [6]

(1996) [2]

(1996) [8]

(2000) [10]

work

No.

E xp.

304.15

303

305.9

303.9

322.0

322.0

322.0

322.0

315.0

312.4

312.8

312.5

314.2

320.0

319.0

317.65

319.6

10

314.15

293.15

316.0

321.0

314.1

11

295.15

311.15

299.3

294.7

12

305.15

279.15

301.2

311.0

304.2

15

308.15

283.15

309.5

310.0

307.8

T a b le 3 . T h e e r r o r p e r c e n t o f t h e w a x a p p e a r a n c e t e m p e r a t u r e ( K ) a t
P = 1 b a r fo r d if fe r e n t sy st e m s g iv e n b y P e d e r se n et a l. a n d P a n et a l. [6 ,8 ]
O il
No.

Wax app earance t em p erat ure error p ercent (K )

P edersen et a l.

Lira-G aleana et a l.

P an et a l.

Vafaie-Seft i et a l.

T his

(1991) [6]

(1996) [2]

(1996) [8]

(2000) [10]

wor k

0.38

0.58

0.08

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.83

0.70

0.79

0.25

0.31

0.73

0.12

10

6.68

0.59

2.18

0.02

11

5.42

1.41

0.15

12

8.52

1.29

1.92

0.31

15

8.11

0.44

0.60

0.11

J ournal of Nat ural G as Chem ist ry Vol. 16 No. 3 2007

4. C a se st u d y of ga s f ield s
Nat ural gas produced from gas reservoirs A locat ed at t he Sout h of Iran is used for t he gas inject ion
int o t he oil fields for pressure maint enance. T his plant
is designed for producing 40 million m 3 / day of nat ural
gas and 6500 8000 bbl/ day condensat e using a refrigerat ion process t o t reat t he gas and condensat e t o
meet t he hydrocarbon dew point specificat ions. T he
dry gas is t hen shipped int o Khozest an for gas inject ion.
Nat ural gas product ion from t his gas field
present s unique problems relat ed t o solids deposit ion
during processing because t he produced fluids (gas
and gas condensat e) cont ain suspended and dissolved
solids. Solids deposit ion occurs not only in t he plant
inlet separat ors but also in t he various operat ing unit s
in gas st reams and gas condensat e st reams. To address t he solids problem at t he plant , a large set of
available dat a as well as st ream propert ies were employed t o find t he possibilit ies of wax product ion using t he result s of t his st udy. Table 4 illust rat es t he
hydrocarbon composit ion of gas reservoir A.
T a b le 4 . T h e h y d r o c a r b o n c o m p o sit io n o f t h e
g a s r e se r v o ir A
Com p onent

Mol%

Com p onent

Mol%

N2

5.453500

NC 1 0

0.052745

CO 2

1.297500

NC 1 1

0.047765

H2 S

0.007000

NC 1 2

0.037810

C1

89.766400

NC 1 3

0.029835

C2

1.453000

NC 1 4

0.022865

C3

0.430100

NC 1 5

0.012915

IC 4

0.114500

NC 1 6

0.013905

NC 4

0.172200

NC 1 7

0.008935

IC 5

0.082630

NC 1 8

0.008938

NC 5

0.064710

NC 1 9

0.006948

IC 6

0.000000

NC 2 0

0.022780

NC 6

0.128350

He

0.000000

IC 7

0.000000

H2 O

0.442200

NC 7

0.157250

Benzene

0.000000

IC 8

0.000000

Toluene

0.000000

NC 8

0.092575

E t hyl Benzene

0.000000

IC 9

0.000000

P ropyl Benzene

0.000000

NC 9

0.072655

Tot al

100.000000

IC 1 0

0.000000

Figure 3 shows t he wax precipit at ion as a funct ion of t emperat ure for t his composit ion dat a. It can
be seen t hat t he wax precipit at ion st art s at 305.8 K

299

under at mospheric pressure, which is far above t he

local t emperat ure during wint er. T herefore, t he precipit at ed waxes are ident ified as t he ma jor cont ribut or t o t he solids problem in t his plant . In addit ion,
t he predict ed values are confirmed by t he field observat ion. Solid precipit at ion has been report ed in t he
t ransmission lines and t he st orage t anks of gas condensat es in t hat field.

F ig u r e 3 . T h e w e ig h t p e r c e n t o f t h e p r e c ip it a t e d
so lid a s a fu n c t io n o f t e m p e r a t u r e fo r t h e
g a s r e se r v o ir A

5. C on clu sion s
A mult isolid-phase model, on t he basis of t he SRK
EoS t o calculat e t he fugacit ies of different phases, is
used t o predict t he WAT and t he percent age of wax
deposit ion. T he model shows significant improvement
for bot h t he WAT and percent age of wax deposit ion
calculat ions when t he result s t hus obt ained were compared wit h t he experiment al dat a.
T he correlat ions, suggest ed by Riazi and AlSahhaf for crit ical propert ies, have been used in combinat ion wit h t he SRK EoS. T hese paramet ers lead
t o consist ency between t he opt imized values of m for
t he heavy paraffins.
A case st udy of solid precipit at ion in a gas field
in t he sout h of Iran is invest igat ed using t he present
model t o predict t he wax precipit at ion. T he result s
are confirmed by t he field observat ion.
A ck n ow le d gem e n t s
T he aut hors wish t o t hank t he Research and Development Direct orat e of t he Nat ional Iranian Oil Company
for support ing t his project and t he Sout h Zagros Oil and
Gas P roducing Company for t heir very valuable help in
t his regard.

300

Z. J eirani et al./ J ournal of Nat ural G as C hem ist ry Vol. 16 No. 3 2007

N om en cla t u r e

R efer en ces

f
P
T
z
h
cp
R
v
ki j

[1] Leont arit is K J , Mansoori G A. J ournal of P etroleum

Science and Engineering, 1988, 1: 229
[2] Lira-Galeana C, F iroozabadi A, P rausnit z J M.
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[3] Won K W . F luid P hase Equilibria, 1986, 30: 265
[4] Won K W . F luid P hase Equilibria, 1989, 53: 377
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[6] P edersen K S, Skovborg P, Ronningsen H P. Energy
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[7] P edersen K S. SP E P roduction & Facilities, 1995, 2:
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[8] P an H, F iroozabadi A, Fot land P. P resent ed at t he
1996 SP E Annual Technical Conference and Exhibit ion held in Denver, Colorado, USA, 6-9 Oct ob er
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[9] Mei H, Kong X, Zhang M. P resent ed at t he 1999 SP E
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[13] F iroozabadi A. Mc Graw-Hill, New York, 1999
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1998, OT C 8776
[15] Nichit a D V, F iroozabadi A. P resent ed at t he 1999
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[20] Chueh P L, P rausnit z J M. AIChE J , 1967, 13: 1099

Mw
S
V
F
N
Ns
x
y
K

fugacity, bar
pressure, bar
t emperat ure, K
feed composit ion
ent halpy, cal/ mol
heat capacity, cal/ (molK)
gas const ant , cal/ (molK)
molar volume, cm 3 / mol
binary int eract ion coefficient between component s i and j
molecular weight , g/ mol
moles of solid phase, mol
moles of vapor phase, mol
feed mole numbers, mol
number of t he component s
number of solid phases
mole fraction of liquid phase
mole fraction of vapor phase
equilibrium coefficient

Superscript s
v
l
s
f

vapor phase index

liquid phase index
solid phase index
fusion point index

Subscript s
i, j
component index
pure, i pure st at e of component i
c
crit ical property
Greek let t er

difference operat or
fugacity coefficient
acent ric fact or
property operat or
sum operat or