Emulsion transportation

A. A. Gregoli and A. M. Olah. Low-temperature pipeline emulsion transportation enhancement. Patent US 5156652,1992. 

D. P. Rimmer, A. A. Gregoli, J. A. Hamshar, and E. Yildirim. Pipeline emulsion transportation for heavy oils. In L. L. Schramm, editor. Emulsions fundamentals and applications in the petroleum industry, volume 231 of ACS Advances in Chemistry Series, pages 295-312. American Chemical Society, Washington DC, 1992. 

Rimmer, D.P., Gregoli, A.A., Hamshar, J.A., Yildirim, E. Pipeline Emulsion Transportation for Heavy Oils in Emulsions, Fundamentals and Applications in the Petroleum Industry, Schramm, L.L. (Ed.), American Chemical Society Washington, 1992, pp 295—312. 

Rimmeretal. Pipeline Emulsion Transportation for Heavy Oils... 

Figure 2. Facilities required for a heavy-crude-oil emulsion transportation...

Demulsification. The final part of the emulsion transportation system is demulsification or breaking of the oil-in-water emulsion to recover dry crude oil. The equipment and process conditions required for this operation are the same or similar to those used for a conventional crude-oil dewatering process. 

If the pipeline used for emulsion transportation is a common carrier, special procedures may be necessary for metering and custody transfer. Online instruments for measurement of emulsion water content may be required in such an application. 

Further development of emulsion transport technology is dependent upon future economic factors such as increases in the price of heavy crude oil and potential shortages of diluent. Commercial operation of an emulsion transport system is required to determine the long-term technical and economic viability of this technology. 

The remaining chapters address the converse, and to many, more familiar, situation in which undesirable emulsions must be broken. This treatment progresses from a focus on commercial chemical demulsifiers that may be effective to pilot- and large-scale demulsification practice. A common theme in these chapters is the use of the fundamental concepts in combination with actual commercial and pilot-scale process experiences. Overall, the book shows how to approach making desirable petroleum emulsions, transporting and handling them, and breaking them when they become undesirable. ... 

A non-equilibrium state of the adsorption layer of bubbles or drops initiates adsorption processes in foams and emulsions. Transport of surface active substances in foams and emulsions can additionally be complicated by this dynamic adsorption layer. Specifically, water purification from surfactant or their fractionation are strongly influenced by a dynamic state of the adsorption layer (Section 8.8.3). 

Information about the rheological properties of extracting emulsions and their fluidity enables one to optimize the processes of preparation of the extracting emulsion, transportation of the liquid dispersions, and reduction of energy consiimption at the various stages of their handling. 

Emulsion Transportation and Dehydration of Heavy Oil. Chemical Engineering Research Design, 71,62-68. 

The Other destabilization mechanisms are related, for example, to uncontrolled transport of the inner phase, the inner emulsifiers, and the inner addenda. Water as well as solubilized molecules can be transported across the oil layer (in W/O/W emulsions) from the inner phase to the outer phase or in the opposite direction, depending on the osmotic pressure gradient between the two aqueous phases (Wen and Papadopoulos, 2001). Water transported from the inner phase empties the inner droplets, and turns the W/O/W multiple emulsion globules into a simple O/W emulsion. Transport of water from the continuous phase to the inner phase may cause an internal explosion of the aqueous phase. 

James, A. D. (2006) Overview of Asphalt Emulsions, Transportation Research Circular No. E-C102, August. 

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