Stability And Demulsification Of The Water In Crude Emulsions Via Chemical Method

Petroleum companies are familiar with the problems caused by the formation of water-in-crude oil emulsions, especially with those related to the increment of the crude oil apparent viscosity an their impact on the oil production. Many studies have been conducted to establish the existing relationship between the crude oil emulsions apparent viscosity and their water content. The emulsion stability results from the presence of interfacial barrier preventing coalescence of the dispersed water droplets. This is due to present of polar components such as asphaltenes, resins, wax and naphtenic acids in the crude oil. Therefore before transporting or refining the oil, it is essential to separate the water for economic and operational reasons. Minimizing the water level in the oil reduces pipeline corrosion and maximizes pipelines usage. Demulsification of crude oil forms an integral part of crude oil production and chemical demulsification is crucial step in demulsification sequence. In chemical demulsification, chemical known as demulsifier is added to the water-in-crude oil emulsion. The effect of chemical demulsification operations on the stability was assessed experimentally. In this regard, Amine group demulsifier were used. Using samples w/o, the data presented for several demulsifiers show a strong connection (correlation) between good performance (fast coalescence and the demulsifiers.