A Novel IPR-CEF technique for emulsion stability research

Jan H Beetge

Champion Technologies, Inc., Houston, Texas, USA

The science and technology of Demulsification is critical to the oil industry. The majority of oil field emulsions are resolved with the aid of chemical demulsifiers. Quantitative and qualitative determination of emulsion stability is essential for effective chemical demulsifier research and development. A wide variety of techniques are applied in the evaluation of emulsion stability. Of particular interest is the Critical Electric Field (CEF) technique, which has gained some recent support as a method for comparative emulsion stability evaluation.

This study focuses on the development of a novel IPR-CEF based technique, which offers insight into the mechanism of emulsion stabilization, by separation stabilization effects in terms of flocculation as well as coalescence behavior. It was found that the method and procedure of this new IPR-CEF technique is not only useful in revealing mechanisms of crude oil stabilization, but is of significant value in studying the mechanism of chemical demulsifier function.

Based on basic theoretical principles, a linear relationship between observed CEF values and the inverse of the internal phase ratio (IPR) of an emulsion series is predicted. It is believed that the slope of this relationship is representative of flocculation behavior, while the extrapolated CEF value at f = 1 gives an indication of the coalescence behavior of an emulsion.