Influence of water-soluble and water-insoluble natural surface active components on the stability of water-in-toluene-diluted bitumen emulsion

The colloidal structure of bitumen: Consequences on the rheology and on the mechanisms of bitumen modification

“…The recent study by Chaverot and co-workers [88] proposed that they are a special class of asphaltenes amounting to less than 0.015% of the total asphaltenes content. Still, there exist a significant non-asphaltenic part of the endogenous surfactants as demonstrated by Gu and co-workers [91]. They observed an increase in emulsion stability after extracting the water-soluble surface active components of the bitumen.…”

Understanding Water‐Based Bitumen Extraction from Athabasca Oil Sands

“…However, recent studies (Gu et al, 2002) suggested that complete removal of the water-soluble surface active species from bitumen by continuous water extraction resulted in an increased stability of bitumen droplets and the formed emulsion. The water-insoluble surface active asphaltenes are therefore identified as the key stabilizing agents in this study.…”

Adsorption isotherms of associating asphaltenes at oil/water interfaces based on the dependence of interfacial tension on solvent activity

“…It is more straightforward to use aqueous extraction. The benefits of aqueous extraction on the efficiency of surfactant removal from bituminous systems were demonstrated recently [53,54].…”