AZURE-XPC

Some crude oils contain high levels of naphthenic acids whilst the produced waters associated with them contain high levels of calcium ions. During processing, as fluids flow from the well to the surface, there is a drop in pressure which results in an increase in pH following the flashing off of dissolved acid gases such as carbon dioxide.

The rise in pH increases the tendency to form solid calcium naphthenate deposits at the oil/water interface. The polar carboxylic acid groups of naphthenic acid molecules react with divalent calcium ions in aqueous solution to form a sticky brown or grey mass of deposit that historically has been considered as being insoluble and has required manual removal of often many tens of tons of material and disposal by incineration. Bluesky has developed a dissolver that for the first time allows Calcium Naphthenate to be very rapidly dissolved in situ using a simple static soak process under ambient temperature conditions.

Patent GB 2605507A.