Crude Oil Emulsions- A State-Of-The-Art Review
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Crude-OilEmulsions:AState-Of-The-ArtReview
SunilKokal,SPE,SaudiAramcoSummaryTheformationofemulsionsduringoilproductionisacostlyprob-lem,bothintermsofchemicalsusedandproductionlost.Thispaperdiscussesproductionandoperationalproblemsrelatedtocrude-oilemulsionsandpresentsareviewthatwillbeusefulforpracticingengineers.Thefirstpartofthispaperpresentswhyemulsionsformduringoilproduction,thetypesofemulsionsencountered,andnewmeth-odsforcharacterizingthem.Crude-oilemulsionsarestabilizedbyrigidinterfacialfilmsthatforma“skin”onwaterdropletsandpreventthedropletsfromcoalescing.Thestabilityoftheseinter-facialfilms,andhence,thestabilityoftheemulsions,dependsonanumberoffactors,includingtheheavymaterialinthecrudeoil(e.g.,asphaltenes,resins,andwaxes),solids(e.g.,clays,scales,andcorrosionproducts),temperature,dropletsizeanddroplet-sizedistribution,pH,andoilandbrinecomposition.Theeffectsofthesefactorsonemulsionstabilityarereviewedwithinthispaper.Thesecondpartofthispaperpresentsmethodstotacklecrude-oilemulsions.Thefocusisonthedestabilizationofemulsionsandthedemulsificationprocess.Emulsionsaredestabilizedbyincreas-ingtemperatureandresidencetime,removalofsolids,andcon-trollingemulsifiers.Themechanismsinvolvedindemulsification(e.g.,flocculation,aggregation,sedimentation,creaming,andco-alescence)arediscussedintermsofthestabilityoftheinterfacialfilms.Themethodsinvolvedindemulsification—includingther-mal,mechanical,electrical,andchemical—arealsopresented.Ex-perienceandeconomicsdeterminewhichmethodsareused,andtowhatdegree,foremulsiontreatment.Finally,asectiononfieldapplicationsalsoisincludedthatshouldbeusefulforthepracticingengineerwhodealswithemul-sionseitherregularlyoronalimitedbasis.Hereinthefield-emulsiontreatmentprogramisdiscussed,andmoreimportantly,methodstopreventemulsionproblemsarehighlighted.Recom-mendationsaremadeforreducingandoptimizingdemulsifierdos-ageandcontrollingemulsionproblems.
IntroductionCrudeoilisseldomproducedalone.Itisgenerallycommingledwithwater,whichcreatesanumberofproblemsduringoilpro-duction.Producedwateroccursintwoways:someofthewatermaybeproducedasfreewater(i.e.,waterthatwillsettleoutfairlyrapidly),andsomeofthewatermaybeproducedintheformofemulsions.Emulsionsaredifficulttotreatandcauseanumberofoperationalproblems,suchastrippingofseparationequipmentingas/oilseparatingplants(GOSPs),productionofoff-specificationcrudeoil,andcreatinghighpressuredropsinflowlines.Emulsionshavetobetreatedtoremovethedispersedwaterandassociatedinorganicsaltstomeetcrudespecificationfortransportation,stor-age,andexportandtoreducecorrosionandcatalystpoisoningindownstream-processingfacilities.Emulsionscanbeencounteredinalmostallphasesofoilpro-ductionandprocessing:insidethereservoirs,wellbores,well-heads,andwetcrude-handlingfacilities;transportationthroughpipelinesandcrudestorage;andduringpetroleumprocessing.This
paperprovidesareviewofcrude-oilemulsions;however,there-viewislimitedtotheproducedoilfieldemulsionsatthewellheadandatthewetcrude-handlingfacilities.Itlooksatthecharacter-istics,occurrence,formation,stability,handling,andbreakingofproducedoilfieldemulsions.Crude-oilemulsionsisabroadareaandseveralbookshavebeenwrittenonthesubject.1–3Thispaperprovidesanoverview
thatisprimarilytargetedtowardsthepracticingengineerswiththeobjectiveoffamiliarizingthemwiththemostimportantissues.Forin-depthdetailsandfurtherreadingonthesubjectmatter,thereaderisdirectedtothetextbooks1–3andwebsiteaddresses4–9providedinthereferences.
Definitions.Acrude-oilemulsionisadispersionofwaterdropletsinoil.Producedoilfieldemulsionscanbeclassifiedintothreebroadgroups:•Water-in-oil(W/O)emulsions.•Oil-in-water(O/W)emulsions.•Multipleorcomplexemulsions.TheW/Oemulsionsconsistofwaterdropletsinacontinuousoilphase,andtheO/Wemulsionsconsistofoildropletsinacontinuouswaterphase.Intheoilindustry,W/Oemulsionsaremorecommon(mostproducedoilfieldemulsionsareofthiskind),andtherefore,theO/Wemulsionsaresometimesreferredtoas“reverse”emulsions.Multipleemulsionsaremorecomplexandconsistoftinydropletssuspendedinbiggerdropletsthataresus-pendedinacontinuousphase.Forexample,awater-in-oil-in-water(W/O/W)emulsionconsistsofwaterdropletssuspendedinlargeroildropletsthatinturnaresuspendedinacontinuouswaterphase.Fig.1showsthevarioustypesofemulsions.Giventheoilandwaterphases,thetypeofemulsionthatisformeddependsonanumberoffactors.1,2,10Asaruleofthumb,
whenthevolumefractionofonephaseisverysmallcomparedwiththeother,thenthephasethathasthesmallerfractionisthedispersedphaseandtheotherwillformthecontinuousphase.Whenthephase-volumeratioiscloseto1(bothphasesofapproxi-matelythesamemagnitude),thenotherfactorswilldeterminethetypeofemulsionformed.Emulsionsarestabilizedbyemulsifiers(i.e.,surface-activeagents,orsurfactants)thattendtoconcentrateattheoil/waterinterfacewheretheyforminterfacialfilms.Thisgenerallyleadstoareductionofinterfacialtension(IFT)andpromotesdispersionandemulsificationofthedroplets.Naturallyoccurringemulsifiersinthecrudeoilincludehigherboiling-pointfractions,suchasasphaltenesandresins,andorganicacidsandbases.Thesecom-poundsarebelievedtobethemainconstituentsofinterfacialfilms,whichformaroundwaterdropletsinanoilfieldemulsion.Othersurfactantsthatmaybepresentarefromchemicalsthatareinjectedintotheformationorwellbore(e.g.,drillingfluids;stimulationchemicals;andinjectedinhibitorsforcorrosion,scale,waxes,andasphaltenescontrol).Finesolidscanalsoactasmechanicalstabi-lizers.Theseparticles,whichhavetobemuchsmallerthanemul-siondroplets,collectattheoil/waterinterfaceandarewettedbyboththeoilandwater.Theeffectivenessofthesesolidsinstabi-lizingemulsionsdependsonanumberoffactors,suchasparticlesize,particleinteractions,andthewettabilityoftheparticles.11Finelydividedsolidsfoundinoilproductionincludeclayparticles,sand,asphaltenesandwaxes,corrosionproducts,mineralscales,anddrillingmuds.Oilfieldemulsionsarecharacterizedbyanumberofpropertiesincludingappearance,basicsedimentandwater,dropletsize,bulk