Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsion should be used
when both the dispersed and the continuous phase are liquids. In an emulsion, one liquid (the dispersed
phase) is dispersed in the other (the continuous phase).
Oil and water can form an emulsion, first, an oil-in-water emulsion (direct), wherein the oil is the
dispersed phase, and water is the dispersion medium. Second, they can form a water-in-oil emulsion
(invert), wherein water is the dispersed phase and oil is the external phase. Multiple emulsions are also
possible, including a "water-in-oil-in-water" emulsion and an "oil-in-water-in-oil" emulsion.
Emulsions are stabilized by an emulsifying agent which is a film of surface active agents that reduces the
interfacial tension between the oil and water. Given sufficient time, most emulsions will dissipate
naturally. However, to reduce the retention time needed and break the emulsion, the film of emulsifiers
is normally altered by heat, chemicals, mechanical devices or a combination of the three.
During the extraction of crude oil from a well, an emulsion is formed when asphaltenes stick to the
outside of extremely small water droplets in the crude, causing a stabilized mixture of oil and water.
Problems caused by emulsion
In crude oil production, stable emulsions make processing more difficult because the contaminants are
suspended in the crude and because the thick emulsion makes it more difficult to flow and measure.
Water also causes problems downstream of the producing well. Since the water is almost always salted,
it may lead to corrosion of equipment and pipelines. It also increases the cost of the oil transportation.
Thus, it is economically important to separate brine from crude oil directly at the production site.
Emulsion breaking
To remove the contaminants and to make the crude more liquid, the emulsion may be broken down by
stimulating the well production with added solvent or increased temperature. It is common practice in
production facilities to break oil emulsions using a combination of expensive demulsifier chemical
addition followed by mechanical oil phase separation processes.
Demulsifiers
The demulsifiers or emulsion breaker chemicals are surface active and must specifically target the
particular emulsion being produced. The desired chemical will penetrate the fluid, disrupt the
emulsifying film, breaking the emulsion and allowing the liquids to disperse.
Commercially available demulsifier formulations are typically a mixture of two to four different
chemistries, in carrier solvent(s) such as xylene, Heavy Aromatic Naptha (HAN), Isopropanol, methanol,
2-ethylhexanol, Diesel.
