Mechanistic Study of Water Droplet Coalescence and Flocculation in Diluted Bitumen Emulsions with Additives Using Microfluidics

Abstract

Synthetic crude oils derived from mined oil sands processed via the Clark hot water extraction process do not meet current specifications for pipeline transport and are corrosive to upgrader equipment by virtue of the high residual water content (2–5%) and salts. Formulated chemical additives used in this process can improve the oil quality by accelerating and enhancing the separation of water from oil. The identification and selection of these formulated additives is typically based on performance data collected in field testing for each component or blend. Herein, two methods are reported to study the effect of chemical additives on the phase separation behavior of water in diluted bitumen emulsions prepared in microfluidic devices. First, water droplets in diluted bitumen were created in the presence of chemical additives and the kinetics of droplet coalescence were compared for various additives and concentrations. Second, using a custom-made device geometry, water droplets in diluted bitumen were for...