Factors Affecting the Stability of Crude Oil Emulsions

The introduced chapter deals with different factors that affecting the stability of crude oil emulsions and also those factors causing asphaltenes precipitation. 

Several factors affect demulsifier performance temperature, pH, and the nature of the aqueous-phase salt. In most cases, an increase in temperature results in a decrease in emulsion stability. Consequently, for a particular emulsion, less demulsifier is required at higher treating temperatures to effect the same degree of treatment. Studies (i) on the effect of pH on the instability of crude-oil-water emulsions have shown that a pH of 10.5 produced the least stable emulsions. Furthermore, basic pH produced oil-inwater emulsions and acidic pH generated water-in-oil emulsions. 

The aim of this book is to discuss the many topics related to crude oil. It includes five sections. The first section deals with asphaltenes-these are natural surfactants that stabilize petroleum emulsions. The chapters of the second section discuss some advanced methods used in characterization of crude oil and it s components. The third section includes and publishes new discoveries and improvements in crude oil biology. The fourth section discusses the natural components presented in crude oil and those factors affecting crude oil stability. The final chapter involves some innovative ideas and concepts related to the crude oil. 

The interfaeial shear viscosity is measured with an SVR I S Interfaeial Viscoelastic Meter (Kyowa Kagaku Co. Ltd, Japan). The schematic of flie measuring part of the interfacial viscoelastic meter is shown in Fig. 1. The results show that the higher the interfaeial shear viscosity of the interfacial film between jet fuel and water the more stable are the emulsions stabilized by the asphaltene or resin fractions from crude oils (18). We also found that flie value of the interfacial shear viscosity is affected by the following factors (see below). 

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