Karafan Journal

Karafan Journal

Application of Micron-sized Oleic-acid Covered Magnetite Particles in Co-sedimentation-demulsification of Water in Crude Oil Emulsion: identification of effective parameters

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Department of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Technical and Vocational University (TVU), Tehran, Iran.
2 Department of Material and Metallurgical Engineering, Technical and Vocational University (TVU), Tehran, Iran.
3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Darab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Darab, Fars, Iran.
Abstract
Produced crude oil from oil reservoirs contains enormous amounts of asphaltenes, resins, naphthenic acids and solid particles leading to the formation of stable salty water in oil emulsion. This can seriously disrupt the refinery process if the dispersed salty water phase is not separated from the crude oil. In this study, a wetted crude oil was dehydrated based on the increased weight of the dispersed droplets using the micron-sized oleic-acid-covered magnetite particles. This method does not necessarily require applying the magnetic field for the demulsification nor uses a surface-active additive. The magnetic responsivity of the demulsifier can exclusively be utilized to recover the demulsifier. The effect of eight factors including rest time, temperature, pH, mixing time, magnetic wettability, mixing rate, salinity and the demulsifier dosage were evaluated on water removal efficiency. The results revealed that all of the mentioned factors were important; however, rest time, pH and temperature were more important. This method has a high dehydration rate and great potential applications for commercial and industrial use.
Keywords
Subjects

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Volume 21, Issue 3
Technical and Engineering
Autumn 2024
Pages 455-476

  • Receive Date 04 November 2023
  • Revise Date 06 March 2024
  • Accept Date 02 June 2024