Choice of paraffin inhibitors for crude oils by principal component analysis

Accumulation of paraffin wax in the equipment for petroleum production causes large financial losses. The most effective and most economic means of avoiding deposition is often to add chemical additives to the crude oil, but it is not easy to find the most suitable additive for a particular situation because the phenomena involved are too complex for traditional approaches. Principal component analysis is used for data reduction of parameters to represent chemical additives and crude oils. On the basis of physicochemical properties (including spectral parameters) and the activity of additives on the crystallisation temperature of the paraffin wax, crude oils are classified into two families and chemical inhibitors into three families. A model for predicting the activity of additives is discussed.