Fossil fuel: Process industry economics of crude oil and petroleum derivatives for scheduling, planning, and feasibility studies

Pipelines are used to transport large amounts of crude oil over large distances (either overland or subsea), representing the most economical alternative. Flow assurance faces two main problems: viscosity increase due to gradual cooling of the oil along the pipeline and fouling deposition. These problems are especially important in very cold environments (Russia, Alaska, North Sea, deep oceanic waters, etc.) and when dealing with nonconventional oils, usually heavy or extra-heavy oil and waxy oils. In many cases, the depletion of deposits in conventional oil reservoirs is gradually leading to more extraction of these types of feedstock from remote locations. All these situations result in pipeline transport difficulties such as increased pumping costs, reduced flow rates, and the possibility of flow inhibition or blockage, with potentially major economic impact (Correra et al., 2007; Martínez-Palou et al., 2011).