Emulsions of oil and water are the most common problems
encountered during the oil production processes in an oilfield.
Nearly two-thirds of the total oil produced in the oilfield is of the
water-in-oil emulsion form, which means that the water droplets are
relatively distributed or dispersed in the immiscible liquid, oil.
The presence of water in oil can hinder the production and quality of
oil produced at the oilfield, can interfere in the oil refining
processes, cause corrosion of the production equipment and pipelines
and can hinder their handling capacity as well. These emulsions can
increase the capital and operation costs at the oilfield. Therefore
in order to make the oil free of water, demulsifiers are used.
Demulsifiers or water-in-oil emulsion breakers used in oilfield are
the substances which can break the water-oil emulsions at an
oilfield. The demulsifiers are specifically formulated to meet the
requirements of water-oil separation as demanded at an oil production
zone. The water-in-oil emulsions are mainly formed because of
interfacial barrier that acts between the oil and water preventing
coalescence of the dispersed water droplets. The presence of polar
compounds such as aphaltenes and resins is one of the reasons for
stability of these emulsions. The demulsifiers can act to disrupt
this interfacial barrier and destabilize the emulsion thereby
breaking it to give oil free of water. Demulsifiers used in oil production processes
are usually the polymeric surfactants formulated in solvents such as
short-chain alcohols, aromatics and various other builders. They
work to act on the water-oil interface causing the water droplets to
disperse. There are essentially two types of demulsifiers used in
oilfied processes – water soluble demulsifiers and oil soluble
demulsifiers.
The water soluble demulsifier is soluble in oil, water, and could
be mixed with water in any ratio, forming into emulsion when meeting
with water. The oil soluble demulsifier is soluble in crude oil and
organic solvents such as ethanol, benzene, methylbenzene etc instead
of water. Visit http://www.rimpro-india.com/demulsifier/water-soluble-demulsifier.html to know in detail about the water soluble demulsifiers for oilfield.
The speed of the emulsion breaking process in an oilfield is
largely dependent on the chemicals used in the formulation of
demusifiers used in demulsification of water-in-oil emulsions in
oilfield. The quality of demulsifiers used depends on the type of
chemicals used in their formulation.
Conclusion:
Therefore with the use of appropriate demulsifiers, the quality of
extracted oil can be enhanced in an oilfield while reducing the
wastage. The production costs can be minimized and further processes
like refining can be simplified.
This article educates reader about the role of demuslifiers in an
oilfield or why are demuslifiers used in an oilfield production
processes.
