Next-Generation Flow Improvers for Waxy Crude Oil: Unveiling the Performance of Hybrid Additives through CFD and Rheology

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-727-9_22How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Flow assurance; Nano hybrid Polymer; CFD simulation; Rheology; ANSYS

Abstract

Crude oil continues to be a major obstacle to effective pipeline transportation due to its very high viscosity, inclination toward wax crystallisation, and multiphase flow behaviour. Each of these characteristics increases flow resistance, which raises energy costs and creates operating difficulties. Flue optimisation techniques, particularly the use of chemical agents, are often used to address these issues in order to lower energy losses and improve transportation efficiency. The present study investigated the flow behavior of untreated waxy crude oil (WC) and chemically modified samples containing conventional additives (CA-1 and CA-2) and new developed nanohybrid chemical additives (NHCA-1 and NHCA-2) using computational fluid dynamics97 simulations confined by ANSYS Fluent software. Various significant parameters such as velocity distribution, liquid fraction, pressure drop and shear stress were examined at both the inlet and outlet sections of pipeline The simulation results showed significant improvements in flow properties following chemical treatment. The untreated crude oil had the largest resistance to flow, with a pressure drop of 6.80 × 10² Pa and shear stress of 4741.98 Pa. In contrast, the sample treated with NHCA-1 showed the greatest improvement, dropping pressure drop by more than 90% and shear stress by around 95%. Furthermore, velocity profiles for the treated systems indicated a more uniform distribution and lower flow resistance than the untreated oil. Overall, the study demonstrates that the newly developed nanohybrid chemical additives outperform conventional additives in improving the flow properties of waxy crude oil. By effectively decreasing viscous drag and energy requirements, these additives present a promising approach for achieving more energy-efficient and economically viable pipeline transportation of crude oil.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Zarana Patel
AU  - Jinal Patel
AU  - Prabha Modi
AU  - Salman Hadi Dahwal
AU  - Ashish Nagar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/22
TI  - Next-Generation Flow Improvers for Waxy Crude Oil: Unveiling the Performance of Hybrid Additives through CFD and Rheology
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Micro-Nano Materials & Innovative Technology (ICSUMMIT 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 287
EP  - 303
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-727-9_22
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-727-9_22
ID  - Patel2026
ER  -