Hydrophobicity -Hydrophilicity Balance and Demulsification Potentials of Some Selected Chemicals

Abstract

Effective demulsifiers for the treatment of crude oil emulsions should consist of
two ends – hydrophilic and hydrophobic. The choice and combination of the
chemical components for optimum performance is dependent on the properties of
the specific emulsion and cannot be generic. Failure to recognize this and the
absence of a repository of information that matches the rheological property
ranges of crude oil emulsions with the right balance of the chemicals has led to
series of failed field and plant trials with attendant waste of time and money. This
research focuses on the effect of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance on the
performance of Epoxy resin alkoxylate and Alkoxylated alkyl phenol
formaldehyde resin (hydrophobic) and Propylene oxide/ethylene oxide (PO/EO)
polyol block copolymer and Amine-initiated polyol block copolymer (hydrophilic),
blended in ratios of 20/80, 30/70, 40/60.50/50, 60/40, 70/30, 80/20. The epoxy resin
alkoxylate/ (Propylene oxide/ethylene oxide) (PO/EO) polyol block copolymer
were labelled A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7 respectively while Alkoxylated alkyl phenol
formaldehyde resin/Amine-initiated polyol block copolymer were labelled B1, B2,
B3, B4, B5, B6, B7. The result shows that for crude A, a high
hydrophobic/hydrophobic ratio is best while crude B-D show that a high
hydrophilic/hydrophobic ration is the best.