Investigating the Rheology and Stability of Heavy Crude Oil-in-Water Emulsions Using APG08 Emulsifiers

Abstract

This work investigates the performance of isooctyl glucoside (APG08) as an emulsifier for the preparation of a Karamay heavy crude oil-in-water emulsion to facilitate its pipeline transportation. First, various factors affecting the rheology and stability of prepared emulsions were studied. The results revealed that the viscosity and stability of emulsions increased with increasing oil content, surfactant concentration, mixing speed, mixing time, and pH of the aqueous phase. Emulsion viscosity was initially unchanged with the increase in homogenization temperature and then increased while emulsion stability decreased. Meanwhile, the optimal values of key parameters were 75 wt % oil content, 0.5 wt % surfactant concentration, temperature of 30 °C, mixing speed of 750 rpm, mixing time of 10 min, and aqueous phase pH of 11.14, resulting in a viscosity reduction of 88.82% and emulsion stability up to 48 h at 96.27%. In addition, a qualitative relationship between the stability and rheology of emulsions was elaborated by analyzing the experimental results. The findings showed that an increase in emulsion stability was accompanied by an increase in emulsion viscosity. Therefore, emulsion viscosity cannot become very high while improving emulsion stability to ensure proper transportation.

Triumfetta cordifolia Gum as a Promising Bio-Ingredient to Stabilize Emulsions with Potentials in Cosmetics

“…Indeed, it has been found that an increase in oil concentration decreases the creaming rate of emulsions due to an increase in emulsion viscosity and packed density of droplets as well as enhancement of interdroplet interactions [45]. Dong et al also showed that an increase in oil content produces a greater interfacial area between the oil and aqueous phase, resulting in a higher number of emulsified oil droplets with smaller size, thus increasing emulsion stability [46]. The rate of the creaming observed in emulsions F2 and F3 can be commented on based on Stokes' law (Equation ( 2))…”