CONCENTRATED VISCOUS CRUDE OIL-IN-WATER EMULSIONS FOR PIPELINE TRANSPORT

The need to utilize viscous crude oils will increase in the next decade. One means to facilitate pumping of heavy crudes in pipelines is to transport them as concentrated oil-in-water emulsions. Stable emulsions could be prepared by alkali treatment with four of seven viscous crudes studied. Surfactants are formed by reaction of natural acids in the crude with alkali. At crude volume fractions of 60%, emulsion apparent viscosity was lowered as much as 10,000 times.

Viscosities of crude emulsions formed by alkali treatment varied with the nature of the crude and with the ratio of base added to the TAN of the crude. Emulsion viscosities and particle diameters reach extrema close to the equivalence point.

The addition of tall oil enhanced the emulsification ability of some of the crudes with alkali treatment, but one crude required non-ionic surfactant to form an emulsion.