Abstract

Synergistic Effects of Alum and Demulsifier on Demulsification of Crude oil Emulsions

Author(s): Rai N and Pandey IP

Water in oil emulsions create problems in all oil field. These emulsions are generally destabilized by thermal, chemical and electrical methods or by employing some ionic or non-ionic surfactants in combination with thermal or electrical methods. It is known that clays affect the stability of these emulsions. Some researchers have reported the effect of ionic liquids in improving the demulsification of emulsions partly stabilized by clays. Therefore, an attempt was made to examine the synergistic effect of alum and demulsifier and it was found that at high concentration of demulsifier plus alum, the demulsification rate is abnormally increased. For effective demulsification, demulsifier dose of 10000 mg/l was found to be the best dose.