Assessment of cellulose substituted with varying short/long, linear/branched acyl groups for inhibition of wax crystals growth in crude oil

Abstract The deposition of paraffin on the pipeline surface during crude oil transportation is a significant issue for oil industries. In this regard, the demand for adequate methods of wax deposition has gained considerable attention. In the current work, five cellulose esters were synthesized with varied chain short/long and linear/branched in a homogeneous medium and characterized by various analytical techniques. The ability of all cellulose esters to change wax crystal's structure and pour-point and yield stress reduction was observed by cross-polarized microscope, pour-point measurement, differential scanning calorimetry, and rheology. It was noticed that the paraffin crystallization temperature and pour-point had decreased significantly with long/linear side chain esters. The efficiency to reduce yield stress was found to correlate with the nature of the side chain. Long/linear side chain esters with 0.3 wt% are more effective in stabilizing the paraffin/asphaltene gel formation, thereby improving the flowability of waxy oil. The computational calculations also support all the findings at a molecular level.