Performance of electrostatic field in continuous demulsification of simulated crude oil emulsion

Abstract

Water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion is always formed in crude oil production. In most cases, the presence of water droplets in crude oil is undesirable because they can cause several problems such as corrosion of process equipment and a decrease in crude oil quality, as well as its market price. In this research, a simulated W/O emulsion that consists of kerosene as a continuous oil phase, water as a dispersed phase and SPAN 80 as an emulsifier has been formulated. The feasibility of using Span 80 for W/O emulsion formation and emulsion stability has been investigated. Stability test proved that the emulsions with 2 w/v % of Span 80 were stable and no separation was observed for the first 48 hours of gravitational settling. Besides, this research also aimed to study the effects of several parameters such as frequency, emulsion flow rate, voltage, water content in emulsion, and emulsifier concentration on the demulsification performance under high voltage electric field. The results showed that the best demulsification performance was 90% using electrical method at 1000 Hz of frequency, 10kV of voltage, 0.4 mL/s of emulsion flow rate, 2 w/v % of emulsifier, and 30 % of water portion of simulated crude oil.