An Evaluation of a Novel Product for Inhibition or Remediation of Paraffin Deposition

Evaluating the effectiveness of products and/or methods that might improve oil and gas production in Wyoming is one of the functions of the Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute (EORI). As part of that effort, EORI sponsored an evaluation of a novel product that reportedly could help reduce the detrimental effects of paraffin precipitation and deposition in oil wells.

This novel product is produced from recycled tires and is under development by a clean-tech company that converts scrap rubber materials into several beneficial products. Although analyses have shown that this product in its current form does contain a significant quantity of aromatic solvents that may act either as inhibitors of paraffin wax deposition or as a paraffin solvent, tests using the novel, tire-recycled oil (TRO) product on three different paraffinic oils from Wyoming oil fields showed that the concentrations of these solvents in the product are insufficient to provide substantial benefits for that purpose.