Evaluation of Emulsion Treatment Using Different De-emulsifiers

Abstract

Abstract Water in oil emulsion occurs at many stages in the production and treatment of crude oil. About two thirds of the produce of every new oil field exists in the form of water-in-oil emulsions. The emulsion stability results from the presence of interfacial barrier preventing coalescence of the dispersed water droplets; this is due to the present of polar components such as asphaltenes, resins, and 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. In this research, three demulsifiers were used (Igepal co-720, Tween 40 and Tween 20) with the experimental work performed under room temperature. The results obtained with chemical demulsifier Igepal co-720 with Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance (HLB) of 14 were {31, 27, 24, 22 and 22%} of water separated from 5,4,3,2 and 1 ml concentration respectively at 60 to 120minutes optimum separation time. Similarly, from chemical demulsifier Tween 40 with HLB of 16 was {80, 74, 72, 70 and 55%) water separated from 5,4,3,2, and 1ml concentration respectively at 60 to 120minutes Optimum separation time. Finally, results obtained from chemical demulsifier Tween 20 with HLB of 17 were {95, 83, 67, 60 and 50%} respectively of water resolved from 5,4,3,2, and 1ml concentration at 60 to 120 optimum separation time. Comparing the three different chemical demulsifiers, it showed that Tween 20 has highest resolving power followed by Tween 40 and the least Igepal co-720. From this result it could be deduced that the higher HLB, the higher the separation of water in emulsion. In addition, a ranking of the demulsifiers used showed that highest capacity demulsifier was the demulsifier with highest HLB.