Experimental and theoretical study of crude oil pretreatment using low-frequency ultrasonic waves

Abstract

In this work, an ultrasound experimental setup was designed to investigate the feasibility of using low-frequency ultrasonic waves as a substitute to reduce the consumption of chemical demulsifiers in the pretreatment of crude oil. The experiments were planned to study the effects of irradiation time, ultrasonic field intensity and initial water content on the efficiency of separation. The results of experiments showed that by selecting a proper irradiation time and field intensity, it is possible to decrease the usage of demulsifiers by 50%. Moreover, a population balance model was proposed to explicate the experimental data. A hybrid coalescence model was developed to determine the frequency of aggregation. The parameters of the model were estimated by linear regression. The parameter estimation was performed using a parallel execution of the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results of the model showed a decent agreement with the experimental data.

Recent developments, challenges, and prospects of ultrasound-assisted oil technologies

“…In addition, emulsions could lead to clogging, corrosion and erosion in pipelines during transportation and the poisoning of catalysts in the refining process [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] . Hence, there are many studies that have been reported on the demulsification of crude oil [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] .…”

“…The approaches that have been pursued in the demulsification process includes biological [23] , [24] , [25] , chemical [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] and physical [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] separation processes. Although biological separation through bacteria or synthetic agents provides better environmental benefits when compared to chemical demulsifiers, the separation process takes significant amount of time that could disrupt oil production.…”

“…Similar improvements in the rate of oil recovery by 20–75% have been shown in several laboratory and field studies [14] , [9] , [10] , [11] . Developments have been witnessed as well in the dehydration of water in oil emulsions, with separation efficiencies between 20 and 95% [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] . Due to these significant developments and numerous research findings in US assisted oil technologies which has seen sustained increment in the past decade, there is a need for a detailed review which highlights the progress and challenges as well as prospects ( Fig.…”

An Overview of Recent Advances in State-of-the-Art Techniques in the Demulsification of Crude Oil Emulsions

“…They demonstrated that a demulsification efficiency of 65% was attained by low-frequency ultrasound. Khajehesamedini et al [147] also reported the use of low-frequency ultrasonic waves for the demulsification of crude oil emulsions. They attained a demulsifying efficiency of 50% at a very low frequency, low irradiation time, and high-intensity ultrasonic waves.…”

Effectiveness of Colloidal Gas Aphron Fluids Formulated with a Biosurfactant Enhanced by Silica Nanoparticles

“…The small size of the aphron's bubbles provide them with high inter-facial areas that makes them amenable to being pumped, in a similar way to water, without risk of collapse [3]. A broad range of novel technologies and their applications, introduced in recent years, play a substantial role in improving standards of living and access to energy and resources, such as oil pretreatment [4,5], biofuels [6][7][8][9], corrosion [10,11], carbon dioxide [12][13][14], wastewater treatments [15,16], flow in porous media [17][18][19], bioresource technology [6][7][8]13,15,[20][21][22][23][24], Enhanced Oil Recovery [25][26][27][28][29][30]. CGA-based fluid technologies are being deployed with success in horizontal and high-angle wellbore trajectories in highly pressuredepleted reservoirs [31].…”