Muscat: The initiative, designed to mitigate wax accumulation within oil pipelines, emerged as a victor in the Upgrade Programme, overseen by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation.
The objective of the project was to tackle the prevalent issue of wax deposits in crude oil pipelines, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions.
Al Waleed bin Yousef Al Maharbi, the Chief Executive Officer of the project, elucidated that the concept revolves around the application of ultrasound waves, a technology extensively utilized across the oil and gas sectors for the development of an efficient, environmentally friendly method to eradicate wax deposits in pipelines.
Wax deposits pose a significant challenge for oil companies, potentially escalating maintenance costs and diminishing the efficiency of transportation, he noted. He further explained that the project employs ultrasound waves at high frequencies, which induce vibrations that lead to the formation of bubbles in crude oil. These bubbles subsequently burst, thereby crushing the dense wax particles into smaller fragments, thereby preventing their reformation.
The adoption of this technology is expected to diminish the reliance on chemicals and electrical heating, thereby reducing costs and enhancing productivity.
