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Influence of Demulsifier Aging on Its Performance in Heavy Oil Synthetic Emulsions

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Abstract

Flow assurance is one of the main challenges in the oil industry. Many factors can affect the oil fluidity, including the oil °API and the formation of water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions that increase the fluid viscosity. The demulsification process aims to decrease as much as possible the water content in the crude oil. Chemical products known as demulsifiers can be used to aid in this process. In laboratory, the chemicals can be evaluated under temperature and water content conditions similar to those in the oil field. In this work, the effect of demulsifier aging on its performance, simulating oil field storage, was evaluated using synthetic w/o emulsion prepared with a heavy crude oil and brine at 55 000 ppm. The crude oil was characterized and some demulsifier properties were measured along the time. The crude oil was identified as a heavy oil containing 11.6% of asphaltenes, contributing to the w/o emulsion stability. The demulsifier performance increased with aging time, and the results strongly suggested that a mere evaporation of the additive solvent occurs, concentrating its active matter.

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Funding

The work was financed by Equinor Brazil and ANP (Brazil’s National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency) through the R&D levy regulation. Elizabete F. Lucas thanks FAPERJ (E-26/200.974/2021), CNPq (303.583/2019-3) and Petrobras.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Macromoléculas, Laboratório de Macromoléculas e Coloides na Indústria do Petróleo, 21941598, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Rita de Cassia P. Nunes, Carla Michele F. Silva, Paulo Cristiano S. Rocha & Elizabete F. Lucas

  2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, COPPE, Programa de Engenharia Metalúrgica e de Materiais, Laboratório de Aditivos Poliméricos para Produção de Petróleo, 21941599, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Elizabete F. Lucas

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  1. Rita de Cassia P. Nunes
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  2. Carla Michele F. Silva
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Correspondence to Rita de Cassia P. Nunes.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest requiring disclosure in this article. This statement is to certify that all authors have seen and approved the manuscript being submitted. We warrant that the article is the authors’ original work. We warrant that the article has not received prior publication and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. On behalf of all co-authors, the corresponding author shall bear full responsibility for the submission. We attest to the fact that all authors listed on the title page have contributed significantly to the work, have read the manuscript, attest to the validity and legitimacy of the data and its interpretation, and agree to its submission to the Journal of Petroleum Chemistry.

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Nunes, R.d.C.P., Silva, C.M.F., Rocha, P.C.S. et al. Influence of Demulsifier Aging on Its Performance in Heavy Oil Synthetic Emulsions. Pet. Chem. 63, 925–930 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0965544123030076

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