Emulsion breaking process
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsCato R. McDaniel, Alan E. Goliaszewski, David Birenbaum Engel
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Abstract
The invention pertains to the use of a class of acetylenic surfactants to resolve or break water and oil emulsions. The surfactants are of particular advantage in resolving crude oil emulsions of the type encountered in desalter and similar apparatus designed to extract brines from the crude as they partition to the aqueous phase in the desalter.
Claims22
A method of resolving a crude oil containing emulsion that includes an oil phase and an aqueous phase comprising contacting said crude oil emulsion with an amount of between about 1 to 1,000 ppm of an acetylenic surfactant compound or compounds selected from the groups Ia and Ib, wherein said Group Ia has the formula
- and wherein said Group Ib has the formula
- wherein R is —(CH2—CH2)—;
- R5 is —(CH2(CH3)CH)—or —(CH2—CH2—CH2)—;
- R1 and R4 are a straight or a branched chain alkyl having from about 3 to 10 C atoms or an aryl group;
- R2 and R3 are H, an alkyl chain having 1 to 5 C atoms or aryl group, and m, n, p, and q are numbers that range from about 0 to about 30, said method further comprising contacting said crude oil emulsion with another surfactant (II) wherein said surfactant (II) is a polyol having the formula
- wherein the moieties x, y, and z are each at least 1 and are such as to provide the compound with a molecular weight of about 500 or higher.
A method of breaking a bitumen emulsion comprising contacting said bitumen emulsion with an effective amount of between about 1 about 500 ppm of an acetylenic surfactant compound or compounds selected from the groups Ia and Ib, wherein said Group Ia has the formula
- and wherein said Group lb has the formula
- wherein R is —(CH2—CH2)—;
- R5 is —(CH2(CH3)CH)— or —(CH2CH2CH2)—;
- R1 and R4 are a straight or a branched chain alkyl having from about 3 to 10 C atoms or an aryl group;
- R2 and R3 are H, an alkyl chain having 1 to 5 C atoms or aryl group, and m, n, p, and q are numbers that range from about 0 to about 30, and an additional surfactant II comprising a polyol having the formula
- wherein the moieties x, y, and z are each at least 1 and are such as to provide the compound with a molecular weight of about 500 or higher, said I and II in combination, being present in an amount of from about 1 to 1,000 ppm based upon one million parts of said emulsion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.