Preparation of De-emulsifiers for Breaking Crude Oil Emulsion

Abstract

Oil is produced from reservoirs in association with natural formation water or mixed formation water/injection. Removal of water is an essential step in petroleum industry for many technical reasons. The aim of this study is to synthesize and characterize relatively cheap, environmentally friendly, nonionic de-emulsifiers derived from Jatropha non edible oil and to evaluate their deemulsification efficiency in the petroleum industry for breaking water in crude oil emulsion. Eighteen nonconventional homologous de-emulsifiers derived from natural oil such as Jatropha oil were synthesized to replace the commercial and conventional de-emulsifiers. Six different types of de-emulsifiers were synthesized: - For the preparation of ethoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil de-emulsifiers group, the synthesis comprises two steps, first hydrolysis of the Jatropha oil followed by ethoxylation of the Jatropha fatty acids. - For the preparation of propoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil de-emulsifiers group, the synthesis comprises two steps, first hydrolysis of the Jatropha oil followed by propoxylation of the Jatropha fatty acids. - For the preparation of oleate ethoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil de-emulsifiers group, the synthesis comprises three steps, first hydrolysis of the Jatropha oil followed by ethoxylation of the Jatropha fatty acids followed by esterification of ethoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil. - For the preparation of oleate propoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil de-emulsifiers group, the synthesis comprises three steps, first hydrolysis of the Jatropha oil iii followed by propoxylation of the Jatropha fatty acids followed by esterification of propoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil. - For the preparation of rosin ethoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil de-emulsifiers group, the synthesis comprises three steps, first hydrolysis of the Jatropha oil followed by ethoxylation of the Jatropha fatty acids followed by esterification of ethoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil. - For the preparation of rosin propoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil de-emulsifiers group, the synthesis comprises three steps, first hydrolysis of the Jatropha oil followed by propoxylation of the Jatropha fatty acids followed by esterification of propoxylated hydrolyzed Jatropha oil. These de-emulsifiers were characterized by their high tendency toward deemulsification. It was found that the de-emulsification efficiency increases by increasing of the number of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide units - (increasing the molecular weight) - as well as increasing the HLB value.