Patent ID: 8436219

Claim:
A method for reducing deposition of solid wax in a cold climate pipeline and rendering a pumpable fluid from a stream of liquid hydrocarbon, which includes wax components, said method comprising the steps of: conveying said stream through a cold climate pipeline comprising: a cold-flow reactor comprising: a cold-flow reactor pipe that has a smaller diameter than the pipeline and is of sufficient length to decrease the temperature of hydrocarbons flowing through the cold-flow reactor pipe, at least one static mixer positioned within the cold-flow reactor pipe, an inlet in fluid communication with the pipeline, an outlet in fluid communication with the pipeline, said outlet being downstream of the inlet wherein said stream passes through said cold-flow reactor before or while the wax solidifies, the stream being mixed by the action of said one or more static mixers, resulting in fine wax solids, and conveying the fluid through a pipe to a processing facility.