Laboratory testing methods to assess the wax deposition tendency of crude oils are frequently based on cold finger devices. These experimental devices provide a simple means for testing crude oil deposition tendencies as well as inhibitor performance testing. They are used here in a series of experiments to gain insight into the deposition process using a mass transport-oriented approach supported by numerical simulations. Detailed n-paraffin data are used as input for this diffusion-type transport model employed here. Robust thermodynamic prediction routines provide the basis for the numerical prediction of the deposition process. The necessary heat transfer correlations for the implementation of this model have previously been determined. The results from the predictive routines are being compared to experimental data, and the various outcomes are discussed. It will be demonstrated how these simple devices can be used in a systematic way to obtain insight into these processes.
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