Metodologia para visualização de cristais de parafinas em óleo formulado através de microscopia óptica de campo claro

Abstract

Much of the Brazil oil production comes from offshore (deepwater) platforms. These oils, rich in paraffin, are transported to the Earth coast by pipelines that pass through the seabed, where the average temperature is around 4 ° C. During transport, due to the temperature reduction due to contact with seawater, the solubility of paraffins in the oil decreases and wax precipitates. Crystallization causes paraffin depositions on the pipe inner walls and oil gelling. A methodology for visualize paraffin crystals that form in formulated oil system with 5 and 10% of paraffin in the solution. The MATLAB-aided bright-field optical microscopy technique is used to treat and process images. The methodology was developed through rheological tests performed with cooling rate of 1, 0.5 and 0.2 K / min and obtaining images at the end of the cooling. It was possible to improve the sharpness and contrast of the images obtained through the optical microscopy method. Of bright field for better visualization of the arrangement and formation of paraffin crystals.