STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE HEAVY OIL DEMULSIFICATION PROCESS

Abstract

During oil production and its movement with produced water, stable oil emulsions containing water are formed. The reason for the formation of oil emulsions is the effective mixing of oil with produced water during its rise through the wellbore and subsequent movement along industrial pipelines. The process of deemulsification (dewatering of emulsions) is considered one of the key technological difficulties encountered in the oil industry. The high stability of emulsions formed on the basis of heavy oil is associated with the high concentrations of resins and asphaltenes in their composition. The article provides a systematic analysis of the demulsification of heavy oil emulsions, highlighting the detailed study of their physicochemical properties in developing effective deemulsification methods. Particular emphasis is placed on the potential of using environmentally safe and biodegradable demulsifiers. The analysis of the conducted studies is of practical and theoretical importance for specialists and researchers in the field.