Optimal design of a novel oil–water separator for raw oil produced from ASP flooding

Oil recovery can be greatly enhanced with the ASP (Alkali/Surfactant/Polymer) flooding technology by increasing sweeping efficiency and displacing efficiency. But the emulsification of the residual chemical in the recovered oil from ASP flooding makes it very difficult to separate water from oil. To make the oil–water separation of ASP products more efficient to meet the discharge standards, some improvements need to be made on regular oil–water separators. Based on the physical properties of ASP products in Daqing Oilfield, novel packing and newly designed Crude oil–water separator are studied in this paper. Orthogonal test is used to optimize the design of the novel separator, including the structure and material of coalescent packing, as well as the operating conditions. Experiment results suggest that the separation efficiency of the new type separator is higher than 98%. Both the outlet oil phase and the water phase have met the corresponding standards. Oil concentration in the discharge water is reduced to 600 mg L^− 1 and average drop size is about 6 μm. It can be easily concluded that the new type separator has a better performance on the oil–water separation of ASP products. At the end of this paper, the drop size distribution (DSD) in the outlet water is analyzed to provide data for the wastewater treatment process following the crude oil–water separation.     

Biodiesel preparation in a batch emulsification reactor

The transesterification of vegetable oils (rapeseed oil was used here) by low molecular weight alcohol is the most used method of biodiesel production. Since the reaction proceeds at the alcohol‐oil interface, it is necessary to create a large interphase surface area using a special emulsifying attachment. We studied how the conditions (e.g., independent variables: molar ratio alcohol to oil, amount of catalyst used, KOH, time and temperature of reaction, intensity of stirring, revolution of emulsifying attachment) affected the quality and quantity (dependent variables) of the ester phase, i.e., the biodiesel. The amount of used catalyst was calculated with respect to the content of free fatty acid in the oil. The statistical system of Plackett‐Burman was used for experiment planning. The relationship between independent and dependent variables was determined and described by multidimensional linear regression. Various statistical tests (principal component analysis, correlation matrix) were also performed.     

A droplet-based microfluidic system capable of droplet formation and manipulation

Formation of emulsion droplets is crucial for a variety of industrial and scientific applications. This study presents a new droplet-based microfluidic system capable of generating tunable and uniform-sized droplets and subsequently deflecting these droplets at various inclination angles using a combination of flow-focusing and moving-wall structures. A pneumatic air chamber was used to activate the moving-wall structures, located nearby the outlet of the flow-focusing microchannels, such that the sheath flows can be locally accelerated. With this approach, the size of the droplets can be fine-tuned and sorted without adjusting the syringe pumps. Experimental data showed that droplets with diameters ranging from 31.4 to 146.2 μm with a variation of less than 5.39% can be generated. Besides, droplets can be sorted upwards or backwards with an inclination angle ranging from 0° to 53.5°. The development of this emulsion system may be promising for the formation and collection of emulsion products for applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries.     

The effects of different levels of non-fat dry milk and whey powder on emulsion capacity and stability of beef, turkey and chicken meats

The effects of different concentrations (0.00, 0.25, 0.50%) of either non‐fat dry milk (NFDM) or whey powder (WP) on emulsion capacity (EC) and emulsion stability (ES) of beef, chicken and turkey meats were studied by using a computer model system. The effects of meats types and additives (NFDM and WP) on EC and ES were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.01). Of the meats, chicken had the highest and beef the lowest values of EC and ES. When using different concentrations of WP and NFDM, 0.25% WP and 0.50% NFDM had the highest values of EC. The effect of different concentrations (0.25 and 0.50%) of WP was insignificant on ES; however, the effects of different concentrations (0.0, 0.25 and 0.50%) of NFDM were significant on ES.     

Comparison of fuel properties and emission characteristics of two- and three-phase emulsions prepared by ultrasonically vibrating and mechanically homogenizing emulsification methods

Emulsions have long been considered as an alternative fuel for combustion equipment in order to achieve better fuel economy and pollution reduction. While a mechanical homogenizing method is frequently used to prepare emulsions, the use of an ultrasonic emulsification method to do so is still rather limited, and is mostly applied to two-phase emulsions only. Hence, two-phase W/O and three-phase O/W/O emulsions, prepared by a mechanical homogenizer and an ultrasonic vibrator, respectively, were prepared and used as engine fuel. The emulsion properties, engine performance, and engine emission characteristics between these two emulsification methods were measured and compared. The potential of the ultrasonic emulsification method was also evaluated. The experimental results show that the emulsions prepared by the ultrasonic vibrator appeared to have more favorable emulsification characteristics such as smaller dispersed water droplets that were distributed more uniformly in the continuous oil phase, lower separation rate of water droplets from the continuous phase of diesel fuel and thus a lower separating rate of the dispersed water droplets from the emulsion, larger emulsion stability, and larger emulsion viscosity than the emulsions produced using a mechanical homogenizer. In addition, a larger content of water was emulsified when the emulsion was prepared using the ultrasonic vibrator than the mechanical homogenizer. The emulsions prepared by the ultrasonic vibrator also had a lower fuel consumption rate, lower bsfc, and significantly lower CO emission while at the same time having a larger black smoke opacity. When comparing the two-phase W/O and the three-phase O/W/O emulsions prepared by either the ultrasonic vibrator or the mechanical homogenizer, the two-phase W/O emulsions appeared to have a lower fuel consumption rate, bsfc, CO, and a lower black smoke opacity than the three-phase O/W/O emulsions, regardless of whether they were prepared by ultrasonic vibrator or mechanical homogenizer.     

A Star-Shaped Anionic Surfactant: Synthesis,Alkalinity Resistance,Interfacial Tension and Emulsification Properties at the Crude Oil–Water Interface

In this research, a star‐shaped surfactant was synthesized through the chlorination reaction, alkylation reaction and sulfonation reaction of triethanolamine, which is composed of three hydrophobic chains and three sulfonate hydrophilic groups. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the surfactant was measured by the surface tension method, and the results showed that it had high surface activity with CMC of 5.53 × 10^?5 mol/L. The surfactant was superior in surface active properties to the reference surfactants SDBS and DADS‐C₁₂. The interfacial tension (IFT) of the studied crude oil–water system (surfactant concentration 0.1 g/L, NaOH concentration 0.5 g/L, and experimental temperature 50 °C) dropped to 1.1 × 10^?4 mN/m, which can fulfil the requirement of surfactants for oil displacement. An aqueous solution of the surfactant and crude oil was emulsified by shaking, which formed a highly stable oil‐in‐water (O/W) emulsion with particle size of 5–20 μm. The oil displacement effect was almost 12%.     

IAEC⁃1306H复配体系对稠油黏度的影响

研究了IAEC?1306H（异构十三醇聚氧乙烯醚羧酸）与醇溶液和碱剂的复配体系对稠油黏度的影响。结果表明,在质量分数相同的条件下,麦芽糖醇对稠油的降黏效果优于山梨糖醇,NH₃·H₂O对稠油的降黏效果优于IAEC?1306H和醇溶液;NH₃·H₂O和IAEC?1306H对稠油的降黏效果相似,随着NH₃·H₂O体积分数和IAEC?1306H质量分数的增加,稠油黏度逐渐趋于平稳;山梨糖醇、麦芽糖醇分别与IAEC?1306H复配形成的二元体系,对稠油的降黏效果基本一致,并且由于碱剂自身的性质,碱剂与IAEC?1306H复配更有利于稠油的降黏;NH₃·H₂O、麦芽糖醇与IAEC?1306H复配形成的三元体系,对稠油的降黏效果较好,降黏率达到96%以上,而且NH₃·H₂O、IAEC?1306H、麦芽糖醇用量较少。     

固体微粒对溶剂萃取界面乳化的影响

研究了铜溶剂萃取时，萃原液中固体微粒含量对分相和界面乳化的影响。研究表明，固体微粒有促进界面乳化形成和稳定的作用，当萃原液为不含固体微粒的纯净水相时，萃取不产生界面乳化现象；随固体微粒含量增加，分相时间延长，界面乳化程度加重。认为固体微粒稳定乳化液的机制为降低乳化液滴粒度和缩小粒度分布区间，在液滴界面形成坚固固体膜，以微粒絮团的方式填充于液滴间隙中，阻断液滴接触并聚结破坏。     

炭纤维乳液上浆剂

采用转相乳化法，选用不同的混合乳化剂对环氧树脂AG－80进行乳化。通过静置沉淀法，比较不同混合乳化剂对其乳化的影响，结果表明乳化效果最好的是乳化剂1601与NP－10的混合乳化剂。粒径分析结果显示乳液的最可几粒径为934．1nm时，乳液稳定性较好。上浆处理后，单纤维复合材料的界面剪切强度较未上浆时有所提高，说明用该上浆剂处理，不仅可达到保护炭纤维表面的目的，而且可以改善炭纤维与基体树脂间的界面粘结。     

高浓度乳化酸体系研究与应用

针对塔河油田碳酸盐岩储层的特性 ,筛选出了适合于酸压作业的乳化酸外相介质、乳化剂 ,确定了具有良好热稳定性和缓速效果的酸液配方 ,形成了相应的乳化酸酸压工艺技术 ,在塔河油田奥陶系储层改造中应用获得了较好的增产效果