Emulsion breaker

The centrifugal fuel-cleaning process consists of mixing 5-10% water with the oil plus an emulsion breaker to aid the separation of water and oil. Then a mixer dispenses the wash water into the oil stream to aid the impurities in forming a water solution. The centrifuges then separate this water from the... 

Free naphthenic acids are corrosive and are mainly used as their salts and esters. The sodium salts are emulsifying agents for preparing agricultural insecticides, additives for cutting oils, and emulsion breakers in the oil industry. 

Emulsion breakers (dewatering agents) These functional materials are water-in-oil emulsion breakers that permit the separation of emulsified water. The water accumulates in the tank bottom and... 

This product is designed to break water-in-oil emulsions, especially for fuel oils, lubricating oils, or waste oils. This emulsion breaker lowers the surface tension of the oil and, because it is immiscible in water, it is not lost when the water is decanted from the oil. 

Feed rates for fuel oil emulsion breakers vary significantly, but a starting point is perhaps 3,000 ppm. Where used to treat oily sludges (by adding to an API separator), the POE-POP ether component in the formulation aids the rejection of greasy soils from the oil and enables the separated oil to be reused as a fuel. 

Solidifiers, or gelling agents, solidify oil, requiring a large amount of agent to solidify oil— ranging from 16% to more than 200% by weight. Emulsion breakers prevent or reverse the formation of water-in-oil emulsions. 

At the refinery, before distillation, the salt content is often further reduced by a second emulsification with freshwater, followed by demulsification. Crude oils with high salt contents could lead to breakdowns and corrosion at the refinery. The object of using an emulsion breaker, or demulsifier, is to break the emulsion at the lowest possible concentration and, with little or no additional consumption of heat, to bring about a complete separation of the water and reduce the salt content to a minimum. 

There are oil-soluble demulsifiers and water-soluble demulsifiers, the latter being widely used. Emulsions are variable in stability. This variability is largely dependent on oil type and degree of weathering. Emulsions that have a low stability will break easily with chemical emulsion breakers. Broken emulsions will form a foamlike material, called rag, which retains water that is not part of the stable emulsions. The most effective demulsifier must always be determined for the particular emulsion. 

Emulsion breakers are made from acrylic acid or methacrylic acid copolymerized with hydrophilic monomers [148]. The acid groups of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid are oxalkylated by a mixture of polyglycols and polyglycol ethers to provide free hydroxy groups on the molecule. The copolymers are made by a conventional method, for example, by free radical copolymerization in solution, emulsion, or suspension. The oxalkylation is performed in the presence of an acid catalyst, the acid being neutralized by an amine when the reaction is complete. 

The amount of added water required for desalting may be minimized by adding a chemical emulsion breaker to the crude that is capable of displacing the surface-active components from the brine droplets. Quatemized carboxylic-sulfonic acid salts, shown in Figure 22-9, are useful for desalting [1791]. Preferably, the chemical emulsion breaker is used in combination with a delivery solvent, such as diethylene glycol monobutyl ether. 

Ordinary dicarboxylic acids or dimeric fatty acids are condensed with fatty amines to give emulsion breakers [822,823,1029,1030]. Oxalkylated fatty amines and fatty amine derivatives have properties other than emulsion braking in particular, they can act as corrosion inhibitors and pour-point depressants. 

M. L. Braden. Preparation of amphoteric acrylic acid copolymers suitable as oil-in-water emulsion breakers. Patent US 5552498,1996. 

M. Fingas, B. Fieldhouse, I. Bier, D. Conrod, and E. Tennyson. Development of a test for water-in-oil emulsion breakers. In Proceedings Volume, volume 2, pages 909-954. 16th Environ Can Arctic Mar Oil Spill Program Tech Semin (Calgary, Canada, 611-619), 1993. 

J. Fock, E. Esselbom, and W. Hoehner. Use of copolymers of polyoxy-alkylene ethers of allyl or methallyl alcohols and acrylic or methacrylic esters as emulsion breakers for crude oil containing water (Verwendung von Copolymerisaten von Polyoxyalkylenethem des Allyl- und/oder Methallylalkohols und Acryl- oder Methacrylestem als Dismulgatoren fur Wasser enthaltendes Erdol). Patent DE 3513550,1986. 

T. Scholl, H. Perrey, T. Augustin, and C. Wegner. Polyurea-modified polyetherurethanes and their use as emulsion breakers for water-in-oil emulsions. Patent US 4870151, 1989. 

As a rule of thumb, 2 ml. of benzene per gram of analytical sample serve to afford adequate extraction with minimum emulsification difficulties, so that the addition of emulsion breakers is usually unnecessary in order to obtain sufficient clear extract for analysis. Experiences have indicated that occasionally less benzene will suffice on the... 

BDL, below detection limits NM, not meaningful. a API, American Petroleum Institute oil-water separator. b TEB, thermal emulsion breaker. c Approximate value. 

Method. Emulsion broken by mixing oily waste with alum and a chemical emulsion breaker, followed by gravity oil separation in a tank. 

Uses Intermediate for phthalic anhydride, naphthol, 1,4-naphthoquinone, 1,4-dihydro-naphthalene, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (tetralin), decahydronaphthalene (decalin), 1-nitro-naphthalene, halogenated naphthalenes, naphthol derivatives, dyes, explosives mothballs manufacturing preparation of pesticides, fungicides, detergents and wetting agents, synthetic resins, celluloids, and lubricants synthetic tanning preservative emulsion breakers scintillation counters smokeless powders. 

This group includes facilities engaged in exploration for, and operation of oil and natural gas fields. Activities include locating, drilling and completing wells, operation of separators, emulsion breakers and desilting equipment, and all other activities up to the point of... 

Besides savings that may result from pressure and horsepower reduction, it is generally known that the more violent mixing of oil and water also creates an emulsion that would require more emulsion breaker chemical... 

Such analysis requires a thorough study of the variables in the emulsion breaking system These include settling time, temperature, emulsion breaker chemical concentration (and type/, and electrostatic field. 

Free water is that water which will freely separate from oil in accordance with Eq. (4.1). Time, chemical emulsion breakers, electronic fields, and temperature are the factors that will break an oil-water emulsion. It is prudent to heat the emulsion prior to entering the electrostatic section. Such heating lowers the viscosity, which not only allows more free water removal, but also will enhance the efficiency of the electrostatic-treater section. Hereby, even a 0.5% water cut in treated oil is easily and commonly achieved. 

The water knockout tank is designed to separate all free water from the incoming field production oil. It generally uses a 30- to 60-min storage time. In many field cases, the free water is only 30 to 60% of the total water content in the oil. This is due to oil-water emulsions. The oil fed to the downstream dehydration tank (see Fig. 4.15) is treated with an emulsion breaker chemical that is injected into the feed line to the dehydrator tank. As much as 70% of the production may therefore be separated in the downstream dehydrator tank. The KO tank may also receive fresh water for desalting the crude oil through its feed line. 

SAE could be expected to be utilized in Enhanced Oil Recovery, because their low interfacial tension and low interfacial viscosity might be predicted. Finally, emulsion breakers for crude oil may be another interesting application of SAE. 

Oil dispersed in water Finely-divided hydro-phobic solid (eg coal) acts as emulsion breaker. Turbine mixer... 

In processing petroleum emulsions, chemical treating compounds may be added to a crude-oil emulsion to produce desirable oil quality and remove water or inorganic solids. The most common types of treating compounds are referred to as emulsion breakers. Various mechanisms are postulated as to how emulsion breakers function, but it is clear that an emulsion breaker must reach the interface of an emulsified droplet and the surrounding liquid. At that point, an emulsion breaker disrupts the interfacial tensions between oil and water and allows the droplets to coalesce and settle by gravity. 

The concepts involved in how an emulsion breaker performs this function are as varied as the chemistries that constitute the bulk of commercial emulsion breakers. All concepts may be correct in specific cases. 

Emulsion breakers are typically specific for site or crude-oil type. Conventional emulsion breakers are most commonly formulated from the following types of chemistries polyglycols and polyglycol esters, ethoxylated alcohols and amines, ethoxylated resins, ethoxylated phenol formaldehyde resins, ethoxylated nonylphenols, polyhydric alcohols, and sulfonic acid salts. Commercial emulsion breakers may contain but one type of active ingredient or intermediate or a variety of intermediate types. 

Usually, each intermediate has a different effect in each crude oil tested. One intermediate may have a synergistic effect with another intermediate that may far exceed the sum of the two individual intermediates. These intermediate mixtures plus solvent systems (usually aromatic solvents and alcohols) are the ingredients in most emulsion breakers. 

In many commercial emulsion-breaking applications, conventional emulsion-breaking chemistries will also achieve desired oil-in-water contents and acceptable interface quality. However, these results are not always accomplished. Reverse emulsions are not usually resolved by conventional emulsion-breaking chemistries. The addition of a specific reverse-emulsion breaker, either to the crude-oil stream or to the water-handling system, may be required to produce desired water quality parameters. 

In some crude oils, high amounts of insoluble asphaltenes and inorganic solids with high surface charges (chiefly clays) will combine to form a stable solids interface pad. This interface problem is usually accompanied by poor water quality and excessive consumption of emulsion breakers. This type of interface pad is typically removed from a treating vessel by desand-desludging operations to form uneconomically treatable slop oils. Disposal costs of this slop may be high for either the oil producer or refiner. 

Successful selection of asphaltene dispersant chemistries and dosages will provide reductions in interface pads, emulsion-breaker consumption, and oil-in-water concentrations and provide oil-free inorganic solids. 

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