| Abstract: |
Chemical demulsifiers are routinely added in the oil field to effectively resolve water-in-crude-oil emulsions. As used in the common bottle test, dermulsifiers, in effect, probe or interrogate emulsion stability strength. Emulsion stability, in turn, is defined by no fewer than three parameters: water drop, oil dryness, and interface quality. All three parameters are direct outputs of the bottle test, and, collectively, all three provide a more complete picture of emulsion stability, as opposed to the use of any singular parameter. By selecting a wide variety of demulsifiers and by performing a standardized bottle test, emulsion stability from a variety of sites can be quantified and compared. By coupling bottle test results with corresponding crude oil analytical data, fundamental questions concerning factors governing emulsion stability can be quantified. The results show that solid content, not asphaltene content or any other crude oil parameter investigated, is by far the best single predictor for gauging emulsion stability. Furthermore, statistical analysis through partition trees shows that emulsion stability is most aptly described using several crude oil parameters, as opposed to one single factor. Copyright © 2006 Society of Petroleum Engineers. |
