Development of a meso-scale flow loop facility to investigate scale deposition phenomena in pipes

Abstract

Scale deposition phenomena can be encountered in various oil and gas production systems, including onshore and offshore pipelines, complex equipment like safety valves, Christmas trees and other subsea production equipment. In order to study the mechanism of scale deposition in pipes, an experimental loop was developed to generate inorganic salt deposition in a one-inch diameter pipe.Pre-heated water containing calcium and carbonate ions comes from a mixture tank and passes through a heated section of the pipe to accelerate scale precipitation and deposition to the pipe inner wall. A test section was designed to be removed to study the scale build-up over time. The experimental system allows conducting diverse experiments with different geometries, surface-treated materials, mechanical (magnetic field inductors) and chemical scale inhibitors. Controlled experiments and their results, comparing IR images and scale build-up are presented in this work. A scale prediction algorithm was developed using different analytical models available in the literature. These analytical models are assessed in light of experimental results.