Petroleum emulsions examples

Although the aim of the book is to provide an introduction to the field, it does so in a very applications-oriented manner. Thus, the focus of the book is practical rather than theoretical. In a systematic progression, beginning with the fundamental principles of petroleum emulsions, the reader is soon introduced to characterization techniques and fiow properties, and finally to industrial practice. Chapters 1-4 present the fundamental concepts and properties involved in emulsions within the context of their occurrence in the petroleum industry. Chapter 1 sets out the basic foundation for all subsequent chapters. Selected areas of special importance are then expanded in Chapter 2 on emulsion stability. Chapter 3 on characterization techniques, and Chapter 4 on rheological properties. All of these use petroleum emulsion examples for illustration, and in most cases cover the latest useful techniques available. 

There can even be more complex emulsion types [2] Figure 1.2 shows an example of a crude oil W/O/W/O emulsion. The type of emulsion that is formed depends upon a number of factors. If the ratio of phase volumes is very large or very small then the phase having the smaller volume is frequently the dispersed phase. If the ratio is closer to one then other factors determine the outcome. See Chapter 11 (especially Table 11.1) for examples of petroleum emulsion types. 

As shovvm in Table I, petroleum emulsions may be desirable or undesirable. For example, one kind of oil-well drilling fluid (or mud O is emulsion based. Here a stable emulsion (usually oil dispersed in water) is used to lubricate the cutting bit and to carry cuttings up to the surface. This emulsion is obviously desirable, and great care goes into its proper preparation. 

Emulsions of fatty- and petroleum-based substances, both oils and waxes, of the o/w type are made by using blends of sorbitan fatty esters and their poly(oxyethylene) derivatives. Mixtures of poly(oxyethylene(20)) sorbitan monostearate (Polysorbate 60) and sorbitan monostearate are typical examples of blends used for lotions and creams. Both sorbitan fatty acid esters and their poly(oxyethylene) derivatives are particularly advantageous in cosmetic uses because of their very low skin irritant properties. Sorbitan fatty ester emulsifiers for w/o emulsions of mineral oil are used in hair preparations of both the lotion and cream type. Poly(oxyethylene(20)) sorbitan monolaurate is useflil in shampoo formulations (see Hairpreparations). Poly(oxyethylene) sorbitan surfactants are also used for solubilization of essential oils in the preparation of colognes and after-shave lotions. 

There exists, in the literature on high internal phase emulsions, a small number of publications on possible applications of HIPEs, involving a diverse range of topics. The production of petroleum gels as safety fuels is one such example [124,125] this was mentioned in the section on non-aqueous HIPEs. The main advantage over conventional fuels is the prevention of spillage, which reduces the risk of fire in an accident. Also, studies on the flash-point of emulsified fuels [127] showed a considerable increase, compared to the liquid state, for commercial multicomponent fuels. In addition, there may be an enhancement of the efficiency of combustion of the fuel on emulsification, as it is known that a small amount of water in fuel can improve its performance [19]. 

Figure 1.2 Example of a petroleum industry water-in-oil-in-water-in-oil (W/O/W/O) emulsion. From Schramm and Kutay [97]. Copyright 2000, Cambridge University Press.

Emulsions may be encountered throughout all stages of the process industries. For example, in the petroleum industry (see Chapter 11) both desirable and undesirable emulsions permeate the entire production cycle, including emulsion drilling fluid, injected or in situ emulsions used in enhanced oil-recovery processes, wellhead production emulsions, pipeline transportation emulsions, and refinery process emulsions [2], Such emulsions may contain not just oil and water, but also solid particles and even gas, as occur in the large Canadian oil sands mining and processing operations [2-4],... 

A range of emulsions, foams and suspensions can be found in the manufacturing/ value-added process industries. Some examples are given in Table 12.1. Examples for related areas can be found in Tables 9.1 (environment), 10.1 (minerals), and 11.1 (petroleum). 

The study of forces between deformable interfaces can be broken into two categories, the interactions between two sets of deformable interfaces (e.g., two oil drops in water), or a rigid particle and a single deformable interface. Study of the forces in these systems is motivated by the prevalence of both types of systems (drop-drop or drop-rigid particle) in industrial problems. For example, wetting and adhesion of oil emulsions in porous media are concerns in the petroleum industry for both liquid/liquid separations and oil recovery [1]. An understanding of the interaction forces between... 

The wide spectrum of self-assembly phenomena can be categorized in various ways. In this entry, we discuss the similarities and the differences between two- and three-dimensional systems. The last section of this entry describes recent and possible future applications of self-assembly processes, mainly related to advanced materials, environmental issues, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Emulsions, microemulsions, and foams are examples of important and common applications in which self-assembly plays a key role. These have a wide variety of industry applications from cosmetics, foods, detergents, oil recovery, drug formulation/delivery, petroleum refining, and mining. As these are the subjects of other topics in this encyclopedia, they are not covered here. 

Examples of liquid-in-gas dispersions are the mist, the clouds, and other aerosols. Liquid-in-liquid dispersions are the emulsions. At room temperature there are only four types of mutually immiscible liquids water, hydrocarbon oils, fluorocarbon oils, and liquid metals — Mercury (Hg) and gallium (Ga). Many raw materials and products in food and petroleum industries exist in the form of oil in water or water in oil emulsions. The soil and some biological tissues can be considered liquid-in-solid dispersions. 

Dairy products represent a different challenge as the extraction of fat is characterised by the formation of fat-protein emulsion and, in the case of cheese samples for example, is plagued by severe interference from casein. Conventional chemistry would prescribe the concurrent use of heat and aqueous alkali solutions (e.g., KOH or NH4OH) to dissolve the protein and to free the fal which can then be separated, collected, washed and dried. Not surprisingly current AOAC methods are based upon such principles. Generally, the samples are heated in presence of alkali solution in solvents such as diethyl ether and petroleum ether. Ethanol is also used to minimise the formation of emulsion, to further assist in breaking up fat-protein interactions, and to precipitate the proteins. 

Polymer solutions and melts, residual oils, rubber solutions, many petroleum products, paper pulps, biological fluids (blood, plasma), pharmaceutical compounds (emulsions, creams, and pastes), various food products (fats and sour cream) can serve as examples of pseudoplastic fluids. Dilatant properties are mainly exhibited by high-concentration or coarse-disperse systems (such as... 

Water and wastewater treatment processes inevitably involve the removal of suspended solids (often referred to as turbidity), usually silt, clay, hydrous oxides and organic matter. Of these, the most difficult suspended solids to remove are the colloidal-sized fraction which, because of their small size, can easily escape both sedimentation and filtration. Examples of these would include spent protein and emulsions from domestic waters, bacterial cells, algae, viruses, amoeba, industrial waste colloids, silts, clays and organic matter from soil wash. Beyond drinking water treatment and industrial wastewater treatment, other application areas include mineral and petroleum processing, and pulp and papermaking, to name just a few. 

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