Abstract
In this paper, experiments of crude oil demulsification using ultrasound, chemical demulsifier, and the combined method of ultrasound and chemical demulsifier, respectively, at different temperatures (40°C, 60°C, and 70°C) are carried out. The photos of water droplet distribution in crude oil, taken with microscopic imaging system, before and after demulsification using the above methods at 70°C are given. Research results show that the combined method of ultrasound and chemical demulsifier has the best demulsification effect, followed by chemical demulsifier. Ultrasound without using chemical demulsifier has the least demulsification effect. Furthermore, the impact of ultrasonic power, treatment time, and temperature on crude oil demulsification using the combined method of ultrasound and chemical demulsifier is studied. Results indicate that the final dehydration rate increases with the increase of temperatures and ultrasonic power and almost does not change with the increase of ultrasonic treatment time. These important conclusions will provide the foundation for an extensive application of the combined method of ultrasound and chemical demulsifier.
Highlights
The formation of water-in-oil emulsions during crude oil production is a problem for crude oil industry
Their experimental study on the influence of sound field parameters on the water in crude oil emulsion behavior indicated that the response efficiency of the ultrasonically irradiated dispersed water phase to drive, coalesce, and segregate was similar to the behavior of suspended particles [17], droplets [18], and bubbles [19, 20] in sound field
The purpose of this paper is to provide the foundation for an extensive application of the combined method of ultrasound and chemical demulsifier
Summary
The formation of water-in-oil emulsions during crude oil production is a problem for crude oil industry. Simpler, and more efficient method, ultrasonic technology has recently been applied to water-oil emulsion separation on the laboratory scale in many literature papers [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. Many kinds of ultrasonic dehydration apparatus [12,13,14,15] on the large scale have been designed successfully, which enabled the scale-up of ultrasound-assisted dehydration This method was first used in refinery oil dehydration by Yu et al [16] to remove water in crude oil emulsion, which is mostly made by deliberate injection of water into the crude oil in order to dissolve soluble salts especially NaCl [3]. Their experimental study on the influence of sound field parameters on the water in crude oil emulsion behavior indicated that the response efficiency of the ultrasonically irradiated dispersed water phase to drive, coalesce, and segregate was similar to the behavior of suspended particles [17], droplets [18], and bubbles [19, 20] in sound field
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