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US 2006/0135628 A1Published application
Environmentally friendly demulsifiers for crude oil emulsions
AssigneeNalco Company
InventorsSteven Newman, Carl Hahn, Robert McClain
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides environmentally friendly demulsifiers for the break down of petroleum oil applications. The demulsification formulations of the present invention are biodegradable and are low in toxicity. The demulsifiers include a poly(tetramethylene glycol) and an alkylene glycol copolymer linked to the poly(tetramethylene glycol) by a difunctional coupling agent.
Claims39
A demulsifier comprising a poly(tetramethylene glycol);
- and an alkylene glycol copolymer linked thereto by a difunctional coupling agent.
A water-in-oil demulsifier comprising a poly(tetramethylene glycol);
- and an alkoxylated amine linked thereto by a difunctional coupling agent.
A method of breaking an emulsion comprising oil and water comprising:
- contacting the emulsion with one or more demulsifiers selected from 1) a poly(tetramethylene glycol) and an alkylene glycol copolymer linked thereto by a difunctional coupling agent;
- 2) a poly(tetramethylene glycol) and an alkylene glycol copolymer that includes an alkoxylated amine, the alkylene glycol copolymer-alkoxylated amine linked to the poly(tetramethylene glycol) by a difinctional coupling agent;
- and 3) a poly(tetramethylene glycol) and an alkoxylated amine linked to the poly(tetramethylene glycol) by a difinctional coupling agent.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.