Techniques for treating slop oil in oil and gas industry: A short review

Wang, Duo; Zhao, Zhanshan; Qiao, Chenyu; Yang, Wenshuai; Huang, Yueying; McKay, P. F.; Yang, De Ren; Liu, Qingxia; Zeng, Hongbo

doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118482

Cited by 31 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…REB is also known to play an important role in dehydrating the oil phase in SAGD emulsions owing to its synergistic effect with EB. , Therefore, the residual water content in the produced oil was monitored at different REB concentrations, and the results are shown in Figure b. Notably, residual water contents in the top and middle oil layers (representative pictures of the two layers are displayed in Figure ) vary greatly, possibly controlled by the gravitational water/oil phase separation and viscosity of the produced oil phase.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Charge Density of Reverse Emulsion Breaker on Demulsification Performance for Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Emulsions under High Temperature and High Pressure

et al. 2020

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Reverse emulsion breakers (REBs) play a crucial role in the demulsification of complex water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/ W) emulsions in steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) production of oil sands. Developing effective REBs remains challenging due to the poor understanding of influencing factors and demulsification mechanisms. In particular, despite the recognition of the vital role of charge density of the REBs in their demulsification performance, the available literature is limited. Herein, we investigated the correlation between the charge density of commercial REBs and their demulsification performance for complex emulsions under simulated SAGD operation conditions (100−200 °C and 0.3−1.4 MPa) by employing an in-house-built bottle test system. It is demonstrated that a high charge density of the REBs not only promotes the qualities of produced water and oil but also significantly accelerates the speed of oil/water phase separation. At the microscale, the REB with a high charge density is capable of reducing the amount and size of residual oil droplets in produced water. The interactions of the species involved during the demulsification process were investigated by employing multiple techniques including optical microscopy imaging, ζ potential measurement, and dynamic light scattering. The results suggest that the cationic REBs are adsorbed at the oil/water interface, neutralize negative surface charge of oil droplets, and replace interface-active species originally present at the oil/water interface. Multilayer adsorption of REBs may be generated after demulsification, and the adsorbed REBs could partially desorb from the surface of oil droplets with increasing temperature. This work has delineated the influence of the charge density of REBs on their demulsification performance and improved the fundamental understanding of the interactions of the constituent species in SAGD emulsions and REBs, which provides useful information on the development and applications of efficient and cost-effective chemicals in oil sands exploitation and emulsion treatment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Charge Density of Reverse Emulsion Breaker on Demulsification Performance for Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Emulsions under High Temperature and High Pressure

et al. 2020

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“…Water and oil are immiscible; however, water droplets dispersed in the oil phase could be stabilized by the interfacially active components, e.g., asphaltene. − In fact, asphaltene is the heaviest and most polar group in crude oil and a main contributor to stable water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions . Such emulsions are highly undesirable in the petroleum industry, as they could cause severe fouling and corrosion problems in the downstream operations. , Stability of W/O emulsions is dependent on many conditions, including solvent types or composition of the oil phase, , temperature, − ionic strength, − and the presence of demulsifiers. , Various demulsification methods have been applied to destabilize water droplets in the oil phase. − Understanding droplet coalescence is of fundamental importance for uncovering the mechanisms of emulsification and demulsification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Simulations on the Coalescence of Water-in-Oil Emulsion Droplets with Non-ionic Surfactant and Model Asphaltene

2023

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Water droplets in crude oil can be stabilized by the adsorption of interfacially active components, such as asphaltenes. Demulsifiers like non-ionic surfactants are commonly used to destabilize the water-in-oil emulsions. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations were performed to study the coalescence of water droplets coated with both model asphaltene and non-ionic surfactants [PEO-PPO-PEO copolymer (SurP) or Brij surfactant (SurB)]. For the first time, we quantitatively studied the interaction force between water droplets in the presence of both asphaltenes and demulsifiers and addressed the effect of solvent property on the coalescence process. At the droplet surface, demulsifiers adsorbed closer to the water phase and formed more hydrogen bonds with water molecules compared to asphaltenes, indicating the capability of demulsifiers to break the asphaltene film. Comparing the two non-ionic surfactants, VO-79/SurP complexes formed a single-layer film on the droplet surface, while a two-layer structure was formed by VO-79/SurB complexes. This led to a higher repulsive force during droplet coalescence when SurB was present, regardless of the type of solvent. Comparing the two different solvents (toluene vs heptane), for the same adsorbates, the interfacial film was more compact in heptane and there were fewer dispersed VO-79. For VO-79/SurB adsorbates, the bridging of VO-79 led to a smaller repulsion during droplet coalescence when the solvent was heptane, while the difference is insignificant for VO-79/SurP adsorbates. This work suggests that the energy barrier and interaction force for droplet coalescence is highly dependent on the structure of interfacial films, thus providing atomic-level insights into the demulsification mechanisms of water-in-oil emulsions in the presence of surface-active asphaltenes.

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“…Water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions are ubiquitous in oil exploitation and processing. − Water in oil causes serious harm, such as a reduction in the viscosity of lubricating oil, resulting in lubrication shortage; moreover, it causes equipment metal parts to rust, seriously shortening the service life of the equipment. − Therefore, it is necessary to remove the water present in the oil. However, water-in-oil emulsion usually has strong interface stability characteristics, causing dehydration problems. , Commonly used oil dehydration methods include gravity sedimentation, chemical demulsification, vacuum dehydration, centrifugal separation, and electric field dehydration. ,− However, these methods have many disadvantages, such as high energy consumption (electric field and vacuum dehydration), secondary pollution (chemical demulsification), and low efficiency (centrifugal separation and gravity sedimentation). − In recent years, media coalescence technology has attracted wide attention from domestic and foreign scholars owing to its advantages of high efficiency, being environmentally friendly, and low energy consumption …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the Microscopic Process of the Media Coalescence Treatment of Water-in-Oil Emulsion

Meng

Yang

2023

ACS Omega

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Medium coalescence technology is a research hotspot for the separation of oil-in-water emulsions. However, the coalescence mechanism is still unclear, making it challenging to effectively improve the separation performance. Herein, the microscopic mechanism of medium coalescence was revealed. We found that the effective collision positions under the action of the flow field include the exposed granule surface, adherent droplet surface, and three-phase contact line. Furthermore, a numerical model of the microscopic process of water-in-oil emulsion permeation through a granular bed was established. The effects of different parameters (including the number of medium layers, Reynolds number, and inlet concentration) on the microscopic process of capturing dispersed-phase droplets in the bed and the pressure drop in the coalescence area were studied. The numerical results show that the droplets form the bridging structure between the granules. On the one hand, the bridging structure promotes the capture of the droplets by the bed; on the other hand, it causes pressure-drop fluctuations in the coalescence area and asymmetric distribution of the velocity field.

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Techniques for treating slop oil in oil and gas industry: A short review

Cited by 31 publications

References 132 publications

Effect of Charge Density of Reverse Emulsion Breaker on Demulsification Performance for Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Emulsions under High Temperature and High Pressure

Effect of Charge Density of Reverse Emulsion Breaker on Demulsification Performance for Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) Emulsions under High Temperature and High Pressure

Molecular Simulations on the Coalescence of Water-in-Oil Emulsion Droplets with Non-ionic Surfactant and Model Asphaltene

Investigation of the Microscopic Process of the Media Coalescence Treatment of Water-in-Oil Emulsion

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