demulsification

Demulsification (dehydration) is one of the most important problems in the oil industry. The peculiarity of heavy oil emulsions is their high stability since heavy crude contains a significant quantity of resins and asphaltenes. This paper provides an overview of the issue of heavy oil emulsion dehydration, emphasizing the importance of understanding their properties to develop appropriate demulsification methods. The use of environmentally friendly demulsifiers was an object of special attention.

High-viscosity crude oils from the Yablunivske field (Ukraine, Poltava region) have been studied. The oils were diluted with gas condensate to reduce viscosity, and then various demulsifiers were added. It was established that it is expedient to dilute oil with heavy gas condensate and dehydrate it with PM-1441 brand A non-ionogenic demulsifier, based on block copolymers of ethylene and propylene oxides. The dewatering degree was found to be 95 %.