Synthesis and investigation of some modified alkyl benzene as water-in-oil emulsion breakers

Abstract

This work aim to synthesis of new ethoxylated and propoxylated demulsifiers based on Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) as row material to resolve water-in-crude oil emulsions . Several factors such as : 1)Demulsifier concentration, 2)Water content, 3)Ethylene oxide content and HLB, 4)Ethylene and propylene oxides positions in the demulsification performance, 5) RSN value, 6)Microscopic examination and 7)Molecular weight were studied to evaluated these demulsifiers as emulsion breakers. Also, the demulsification process of blank crude oil and L9 demulsifier was photographed by optical polarizing microscope to understand the demulsification mechanism of them. Accordingly, it was found that the process of demulsifier was divided into three steps namely: 1) Adsorption and flocculation, 2) Coalescence 3) Channel formation followed by separation