Evonik’s Oil Additives Team recently celebrated the opening of its new Crude Oil Paraffin Inhibitor (COPI) Laboratory with a brief ceremony and lunch for employees and invited guests.

The addition of the COPI lab marks a significant expansion of Evonik’s Oil Additives Business Line into an industry in which many other Evonik businesses excel. “Oil Additives, with its many years of experience in paraffin wax control chemistry,” explains Evonik’s Oil Additives Specialties Business Director Aidan Rose, “brings a significant technology addition to the Evonik Oil & Gas Product Portfolio.”

“As anyone involved in the extraction, transport and storage of crude oil knows very well, the presence of paraffin wax in the oil can create critical flow problems,” he adds. Evonik’s COPIs modify the formation and behavior of wax crystals in the oil, dispersing them and preventing them from adhering to surfaces, such as those in pipelines.

One critical screening test in the COPI lab comprises an advanced apparatus supporting the “cold finger analytical technique”. Crude oils come with a diverse array of properties and characteristics. “The cold finger test,” notes Oil Additives Marketing Manager Alex Tsay, “is a key screening method in our range of rheological tests. It helps to identify the optimum additive technology that will provide wax-related flow assurance for different crude oils from around the world.”

Within the three energy markets of upstream, midstream and downstream, Evonik has developed advanced chemistries that enhance production, protect assets and increase value through the hydrocarbon lifecycle. The Evonik Oil & Gas Industry Portfolio includes technologies and products addressing some 50 different oil and gas industry applications.