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Abdurahman Nour
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HAYDER A. ABDULBARI
Universiti Malaysia Pahang
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Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering, University Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Malaysia
Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology, University Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Malaysia
a r t i c l e i n f o
abstract
Article history:
Received 24 February 2011
Accepted 30 April 2012
Available online 15 May 2012
Stable concentrated oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions were prepared and their application for heavy oil
pipeline transportation was investigated using very viscous Malaysian heavy crude oil. Two Malaysian
heavy crude oil samples, Tapis and a blend of Tapis and Masilla, were used to produce heavy crude oilin-water emulsions. The diverse factors affecting the properties and stability of emulsions were
investigated. There was a restricted limit of 68 vol% and 72 vol% for crude oil content in the emulsions,
and beyond that limit, the emulsion underwent phase inversion. The study revealed that the stability of
the oil-in-water emulsion stabilized by Triton X-100 increases as the surfactant concentration
increases, with a subsequent decrease in the crude oilwater interfacial tension (IFT). Increasing the
oil content, the speed and duration of mixing, the salt concentration and the pH of the aqueous phase of
the emulsion resulted in increased emulsion stability, while increases in the temperature of the
homogenization process substantially reduced the viscosity of the prepared emulsions. Fresh water and
synthetic formation water were used to study the effect of aqueous phase salinity on the stability and
viscosity of the emulsion. The results showed that it was possible to form stable emulsions with
synthetic formation water characterized by a low dynamic shear viscosity.
& 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
pipeline
viscosity
stability
oil-in-water emulsions
heavy crude oil
1. Introduction
With the combination of an increase in world energy demand
and the decline of conventional oils, heavy crude oils have been
presented as a relevant hydrocarbons resource for use in the
future (Lanier, 1998). Hydrocarbon resources are very important
given that they account for approximately 65% of the worlds
overall energy resources (Langevin et al., 2004). Currently, crude
oil is the most important hydrocarbon resource in the world, and
heavy crudes account for a large fraction of the worlds potentially
recoverable oil reserves (Chilingar and Yen, 1980; Langevin et al.,
2004). However, heavy crude oils only account for a small portion
of the worlds oil production because of their high viscosities,
which cause problems in the transportation of these oils via
pipelines (Plegue et al., 1989). Historically, demand for heavy and
extra-heavy oil has been marginal because of their high viscosity
and composition complexity that make them difcult and expensive to produce, transport and rene. Nowadays, Alberta in
Canada and Orinoco Belt in Venezuela are good examples of
regions producing extra heavy oil. However, an increase in
production of heavy and extra crude oil will take place in several
0920-4105/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2012.04.025
140
N.H. Abdurahman et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 9091 (2012) 139144
Table 1
Physical properties of crude oils: A and B.
Crude oil
Crude A
Crude B
Density (gm cm 3)
Viscosity (Pa s)
API gravity
Surface tension (mN m 1) at 30 1C
Interfacial tension (mN m 1) at 30 1C
0.874
0.028
18.0
30.30
28.80
0.788
0.010
20.00
22.50
20.35
Table 2
Chemical properties of the crude oils used in this study.
Crude oil
Crude A
Crude B
Asphaltenes (wt%)
Resins (wt%)
Aromatics (wt%)
Saturates (wt%)
1.50
13.50
25.00
60.00
0.87
9.40
23.00
66.73
Table 3
Viscosity of crude A and obtained blends B, interfacial tension with oil contents.
Salinity
Oil content
Viscosity
Interfacial tension
Nacl conc.
(%)
(vol%)
Crude A
(Pa s)
Crude B
(Pa s)
Crude oil A
(mN/m)
Crude oil B
(mN/m)
0
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
5.5
5.5
5.5
5.5
30
40
50
60
68
70
72
80
85
1.200
1.620
1.670
1.700
1.780
1.820
1.750
1.890
0.900
1.100
1.200
1.270
1.285
1.200
1.190
1.281
1.290
28.80
28.20
27.77
26.32
24.00
23.66
22.70
21.90
21.90
20.35
20.26
18.78
15.83
14.44
14.00
13.81
13.56
12.80
N.H. Abdurahman et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 9091 (2012) 139144
Table 4
Stability and pour point of the emulsions containing different oil contents.
Oil
% Water separation
content after six days at 30 1C
(vol%)
% Emulsion stability
after six days at 30 1C
Surfactant
conc.
(wt%)
Pour
point
(1C)
100
80
72
70
60
50
40
30
100
75
60
55
46
30
31.43
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.3
20
12
8
8
8
6
5
5
0
7
12
18
27
42
48
water separated %
100
water content %
141
0.35
30
50
70
oC
oC
oC
0.30
Viscosity (Pa.s)
0.40
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
-0.05
20
30
40
50
60
Oil Content (Vol.%)
70
80
90
142
N.H. Abdurahman et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 9091 (2012) 139144
Viscosity (Pa.s)
1.8
1.6
Crude oil A
Crude oil B
1.4
1.2
0.8
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
30 oC
40 oC
60 oC
Viscosity (Pa.s)
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Mixing Speed (rpm)
1600
1800
The surfactant concentration required for stabilizing the emulsion and forming an emulsion with acceptable viscosity was
investigated. To prepare the O/W emulsions, the oil content of
the emulsion was kept constant at its optimum value, i.e. 72 vol%,
the other conditions were a temperature of 30 1C, pH of 7, a
mixing speed of 1700 rpm and a mixing duration of 15 min. The
concentration of Triton X-100 surfactant in water was varied from
0.125 to 1.5 wt%. Fig. 4 illustrates the effect of the surfactant
concentration on the viscosity and stability of the emulsions.
Increasing the concentration of the surfactant resulted in a
slight increase in the viscosity of the emulsion, and the stability
signicantly increased. Increasing the surfactant concentration
results an increase in the number of barriers between the two
phases and provides a better distribution of dispersed droplets in
the continuous phase. It is notable that Triton X-100 is a viscous
liquid. Thus increasing its concentration in the emulsion increases
the viscosity of the emulsion (Eirong and Lempe, 2006). At the
same time, increasing the surfactant concentration reduces the
interfacial tension, which facilitates the splitting of droplets into
smaller ones. The latter would result in a more stable emulsion
with a higher viscosity (Sakka, 2002). It is clear from the above
mentioned results that, increasing the surfactant concentration
increases the emulsion stability; this increase in stability could be
correlated to the oil/water IFT. Fig. 5 depicts a plot of the
surfactant concentration in the synthetic formation water versus
the crude oil/water IFT measured at 30 1C. As clearly demonstrated by this gure, the increase in the surfactant concentration
results in an increase in the number of surfactant molecules
adsorbed at the oilwater interface. The adsorbed surfactant
molecules provide a steric barrier to the coalescence of the
dispersed oil droplets as a result of the nonionic nature of the
surfactant Singh and Pandey (1991). The appropriate surfactant
concentration should be chosen based on the surfactant cost and
the economy of the process.
3.4. Effect of temperature on the stability and viscosity of the
emulsion
One of the important methods that can be used to lower the
viscosity of heavy crude oil and therefore to enhance the owability is to change the temperature. Temperature has a strong
N.H. Abdurahman et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 9091 (2012) 139144
143
90
80
% Water Separation
70
Brine solution
Fresh water
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
10
12
pH
4. Conclusions
11
30
40
50
60
70
80
10
Viscosity (Pa.s)
oC
oC
oC
oC
oC
oC
5
0
100
200
300
400
500
Shear Rate (s-1)
600
700
800
144
N.H. Abdurahman et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 9091 (2012) 139144
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