Oil in water (o/w) nanoemulsions were synthesized in order to be evaluated as an alternative to petroleum emulsions destabilization processes and inhibition of foam formed in the crude oil. The nanoemulsions were prepared by the high energy method through High Pressure Homogenizer (HPH), utilizing poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) and xylene solvent as oil phase and different polarity polyether silicone surfactants samples. These nanoemulsions were evaluated in respect to their efficiency in the petroleum demulsification process. The results of these tests showed that nanoemulsions performance on the destabilization of petroleum emulsions is influenced by the utilized surfactant's polarity. The nanoemulsions and pure samples of PPG and xylene solvent were evaluated concerning capacity of formed foam inhibition in petroleum (antifoam test), and the results showed no significant influence of samples on foam stability. Petroleum/saline water added interfacial tension measurements, added or not the nanoemulsions were executed and showed that the additives adsorption in the interface is related to the surfactant's polarity and nanoemulsion drop size.

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It is common for crude oil from wells to be accompanied by gas and water because of the presence of natural surfactants in the oil that stabilize the associated water. This causes foaming during processing in gas/oil separators because of the constant agitation and shear forces, which reduce the efficiency of the process and require chemical control by the addition of defoaming additives, or antifoams. In this work, we evaluated the chemical and physicochemical properties of commercial antifoam products based on silicone polyethers along with their efficiency in inhibiting foaming and water/oil (W/O) phase separation. The commercial surfactants were characterized by NMR spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography, determination of solubility in different solvents, and measurement of the surface and interfacial tensions.A method to test the formation of foam in oil was used to mimic the operating conditions in gas/oil separators. Finally, tests were performed with the addition of aliquots of the additive solutions (30% p/v) in oil to evaluate their efficiency in breaking up the foam under different conditions. The results show that the most polar additive (SL2) was the most efficient in breaking up the foam. Additive SP1, which formed a heterogeneous phase in the oil, was also an efficient foam inhibitor and helped to separate these phases. The antifoam tests showed that these additives did not stabilize W/O emulsions, so they could be used in gravitational separation tanks in the field.

In oilfields, gravitational separation tanks are generally used to separate the oil, gas and water phases, remove emulsifying agents present at the interfaces and permit the coalescence of water droplets associated with the crude oil being pumped. The main problem that influences the performance of these separators is the formation of foam. In this work, a method was developed to evaluate foaming in crude oil in laboratory scale, reproducing the operation conditions in gas-oil separators in real fields. This method was employed with seven crude oil samples, and the performance of silicone antifoams with different molar masses could be tested. The results indicated that the method of evaluating the breakdown of foam in oil by using the Aging Cell apparatus in a roller oven proved to be suitable. It was observed that the oil viscosity is a determining factor in predicting whether or not foam will form.

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