Destabilization of Gas Condensate Oil-Water Emulsion by Dissolved Air Flotation Using New Non Ionic Surfactants

Abstract

Abstract This paper focuses on the synthesis of new demulsifiers based on oleic acid monoamide to treat gas condensate-in-water emulsions. The chemical structure of the prepared ethoxylated demulsifier was confirmed by FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The treatment of gas condensate-in-water emulsions was investigated by means of dissolved-air flotation jar-tests. The effect of several parameters on the flotation efficiency for separation of the emulsified oil was investigated such as: effect of pH value, demulsifiers concentration, feed rate (L/min) and saturator working pressure (psi). Also, the surface and interfacial tensions, and the thermodynamic properties of the prepared surfactants have been studied. The results show that the optimum oil removal (99.9%) was obtained for OT3 at the concentration of 150 ppm, pH = 2, feed rate = 0.1 L/min and the saturation pressure 10 psi.