Abstract
The reliable assessment of non-aqueous foam stability is highly desirable in a number of industries which handle non-aqueous fluids. This statement is particularly true for the oil industry where the occurrence of such foams in crude oil/gas separation units and distillation processes can result in a loss of process efficiency, leading to severe financial penalties. Consequently, the development of an understanding of what factors most affect crude oil foam ability along with the development of a reliable means of assessing such foamability would be of great use to the design engineer. Such understanding and techniques would enable potential processing problems to be anticipated and allowed for at an early stage in process design. This paper outlines how work at BP Research on crude oil foams has been directed towards such a goal and discusses the various physicochemical factors studied.
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