Study on Emulsification Effect of Crude Oil in Brine Emulsions by Automated Demulsibility Tester

Abstract

The purpose of the surfactants used is to greatly reduce the interfacial tension between the crude oil and brine, thereby decreasing the capillary number. The resulting oil-in-water emulsions are often grouped according to the Winsor theory. Oil recovery aims to produce Winsor type-III emulsions because they have the lowest interfacial tension values and the most favorable flow properties. The sensitivity of oil–water–surfactant systems to environmental influences (e.g., mixing speed and equilibration time) increases close to the favorable environmental range (temperature, brine total salt concentration, pressure, etc.) of the Winsor III type, the middle microemulsion phase, which is favorable for crude oil recovery. The tests aimed to investigate the quality and quantity of emulsions prepared with surfactants used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using an automatic device to characterize and select surfactants for industrial petroleum applications. An essential method for surfactant selection is to study the emulsifying effect and phase behavior. Phase behavior tests and emulsifying effect tests were performed on surfactants and surfactant packages as a function of mixing parameters. The mixing speed and mixing time can influence the results of the phase behavior and emulsifying effect tests, although during the investigations, other parameters were unchanged.