Undergraduate research: Analysis of the Effects of Forced and Natural Convection During Production Shutdowns in Oil Pipelines

Project Details

In subsea transport lines, oil initially flows under forced convection, maintaining high temperatures due to the continuous injection of hot fluid. During production shutdowns, forced convection is reduced until it ceases, while the oil inside the pipeline continues to lose heat to the cold marine environment, gradually cooling until thermal equilibrium is reached.

When the fluid temperature drops below the Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT), paraffin crystals precipitate, causing significant changes in the rheological behavior of paraffinic oils. Under these conditions, there is a sharp increase in viscosity sensitivity to temperature, as well as greater dependence on shear history and local shear rates. Under these conditions, the formation of a three-dimensional network of crystals can lead to partial or total gelation of the fluid.

This project aims to evaluate, through numerical simulations, the combined influence of forced and natural convection mechanisms on the evolution of the rheological behavior of paraffinic mixtures during the production shutdown process.

 

Requirements

Students in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Physics, interested in the following fields of study: fluid mechanics, computational fluid dynamics.

 

Scholarship

Opportunity for a Research Initiation Scholarship.

 

Contact

Angela Ourivio Nieckele  – nieckele@puc-rio.br (21) 3527-1182

Ivan Fernney Ibanez Aguilar – iibanez@puc-rio.br (21) 97572-7447