Study on emulsification of crude oil in water using emulsan biosurfactant for pipeline transportation

In this work, an experimental investigation on removing crude oil from a stainless steel tube using a biosurfactant such as emulsan was studied. The emulsan used in this study was produced by Acinetobacter calcoaceticus PTCC1318. The produced emulsan was able to reduce the surface and interfacial tension of water to 24 mN/m and 3 mN/m, respectively. Also influence of water- oil ratio on emulsifying property was studied. The results showed at CMC concentration, emulsification index (E₂₄) of emulsions decreased with increasing water- oil ratio. At 25°C, 30 mg/L, with a water–oil ratio of 1:2, produced emulsan formed an excellent emulsification of crude oil about 98%. Cleaning parameters tested included washing time and flow rate. It also demonstrated that the emulsan is useful for the tube cleaning with removal percentages of 100% at the room temperature, depending on the washing conditions.