Flowrox to image paraffin wax, asphaltene, and sanding deposit in piping

Jan. 15, 2015
Flowrox is releasing a new instrument designed to enhance monitoring of pipelines and related flow-process equipment affected by paraffin wax, sanding, and asphaltene depositions.

Typical Deposition Watch installation.

Flowrox is releasing a new instrument designed to enhance monitoring of pipelines and related flow-process equipment affected by paraffin wax, sanding, and asphaltene depositions.

The Flowrox Deposition Watch is a predictive device, as opposed to reactive solutions, that allows operators to address deposition issues before they reach critical levels that result in downtime or costly damage. Flowrox says the Deposition Watch can image less than a millimeter of deposit and up to a pipeline is clogged 90% or even 100%.

The Flowrox Deposition Watch uses electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) to create real-time images of the inside of the piping and uses electrical capacitance tomography to detect the differences in permittivity of the various substances found in the piping system. Deposition Watch uses a patented algorithm that creates a 3D image of the process fluid in the piping, and generates trend data as well as shows the free volume inside the pipeline and the growth rate of the deposition over time.

"This is completely new technology which has very little competition," said Todd Loudin, president and CEO of North American Operations for Flowrox. "The Flowrox Deposition Watch can model mathematically deposition profiles and provide calculations on the free available pipe remaining."

Using the Flowrox Deposition Watch allows the offshore industry to make better decisions regarding when to add chemicals and the frequency for addition of chemicals to treat depositions, as well as allowing operators to make better decisions regarding when to disassemble a pipeline for manual cleaning. The savings of chemicals for a typical offshore rig can be several hundreds of thousands dollars per year.

Ultimately, the Flowrox Deposition Watch can show its operators the deposition thickness, deposition profile, growth rates over time, composition, and free flow volume – all of which allow engineers to understand areas where pipes are prone to these process restraining deposits.