The Use of Differential Scanning Calorimetry in Studies of Wax Deposition: Measuring the Solid Formation and Binary Solid-Liquid Equilibrium Phase Diagrams

Abstract : The studies of wax formation in hydrocarbon mixtures, both crudes and refined products such as diesels and fuels, require measuring techniques able to deal with the solid phase behaviour. Experimental data on phase equilibria is important to understand the crystallisation of paraffins and for the development of thermodynamical models, that can describe it. It is here shown how the information obtained from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurements can be used to assess the amount of solid forming when a fluid is cooled and also to make faster measurements of phase diagrams for binary systems where no solid solutions exist. The measurements performed with the proposed methods present a good agreement with literature data.