Reverse emulsion breaker polymers
AssigneeEcolab USA Inc.
InventorsVirgil T. Little, Izabela A. Owsik
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Abstract
The present invention generally relates to methods for resolving water and oil emulsions in the produced fluid of an oil production system comprising adding a reverse emulsion breaker to the produced fluid of the crude oil production system in an amount effective for resolving an oil-in-water emulsion. In particular, these methods for resolving an oil-in-water emulsion can be used in separation processes where the oil and solids in the produced fluid are separated from the produced water in the produced fluid.
Claims27
A method of resolving a reverse emulsion in produced fluid of an oil production system comprising adding a reverse emulsion breaker to the produced fluid of the crude oil production system in an amount effective for resolving the reverse emulsion,
- wherein the reverse emulsion breaker is a polyquaternary ammonium salt;
- the polyquaternary ammonium salt being the reaction product of contacting a polyamine intermediate with either a difunctional alkylating agent or a crosslinking agent;
- the polyamine intermediate being a reaction product of contacting (i) a diamine, a triamine, a tetramine, or a combination thereof with (ii) urea, a dicarboxylic acid, an acid anhydride, a dialkyl ester of a carboxylic acid, or a combination thereof.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.