Pipes, systems, and methods for transporting hydrocarbons

Abstract

There is disclosed a method of transporting a produced fluid through a pipe while limiting deposits at a desired pipe inner-wall location comprising providing a pipe having an inner surface roughness Ra less than 2.5 micrometers at said desired pipe inner-wall location, forcing the produced fluid through the pipe, wherein the produced fluid has a wall shear stress of at least 1 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.

1 . A system for producing and transporting crude oil, comprising: 
 a well for producing the crude oil;    a processing facility for processing the crude oil; and    a pipeline for traversing at least a portion of the distance between the well and the processing facility, wherein at least a portion of the pipeline travels through an atmosphere having a temperature less than 20 C, wherein the pipeline comprises a surface roughness on its interior surface less than 0.025 mm.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the atmosphere has a temperature less than 15 C.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the atmosphere has a temperature less than 10 C.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the surface roughness is between 0.025 mm and 0.0025 mm.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the surface roughness is between 0.025 mm and 0.01 mm.  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the surface roughness is between 0.01 mm and 0.0025 mm.  
   
   
       7 . A method of producing and transporting crude oil, comprising: 
 extracting crude oil from a well;    placing the crude oil in a pipeline to transport the crude oil away from the well;    wherein at least a portion of the pipeline travels through an atmosphere having an ambient temperature less than 20 C; and    wherein the pipeline has a surface roughness less than 0.025 mm on an interior surface.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the atmosphere has a temperature less than 15 C.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the atmosphere has a temperature less than 10 C.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the surface roughness is between 0.025 mm and 0.0025 mm.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the surface roughness is between 0.025 mm and 0.01 mm.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the surface roughness is between 0.01 mm and 0.0025 mm.  
   
   
       13 . A method of transporting a produced fluid through a pipe while limiting deposits at a desired pipe inner-wall location comprising: 
 providing a pipe having an inner surface roughness Ra less than 2.5 micrometers at said desired pipe inner-wall location; and    forcing the produced fluid through the pipe, wherein the produced fluid has a wall shear stress of at least 1 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the inner surface roughness Ra is less than 1 micrometer at said desired pipe inner-wall location; and wherein the wall shear stress is at least 20 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the inner surface roughness Ra is less than 1.5 micrometers at said desired pipe inner-wall location; and wherein the wall shear stress is at least 100 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the wall shear stress is at least 400 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pipe comprises an inner surface roughness angle root-mean-square of less than 5 degrees at said desired pipe inner-wall location.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pipe comprises an inner surface roughness angle root-mean-square of less than 6 degrees at said desired pipe inner-wall location, and wherein the wall shear stress is at least 20 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pipe comprises an inner surface roughness angle root-mean-square of less than 7 degrees at said desired pipe inner-wall location, and wherein the wall shear stress is at least 100 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pipe comprises an inner surface roughness angle root-mean-square of less than 9 degrees at said desired pipe inner-wall location, and wherein the wall shear stress is at least 400 dyne per centimeter squared at said desired pipe inner-wall location.  
   
   
       21 . A method of calculating optimal shear stress in a pipeline system comprising: 
 providing a pipe having an inner surface roughness Ra of less than 5 micrometers;    forcing an produced fluid through the pipe at operating temperature;    increasing the pipe's inner wall shear stress value until no wax deposits are formed on the inner wall.