A study of copolymers activity during the separation of water-in-oil emulsions |
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| Authors: | Felipe Sánchez-Minero Gustavo Marroquín Hugo Ortiz-Moreno Juan Avendaño-Gómez |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Unidad de Caracterización y Evaluación de Hidrocarburos, ESIQIE, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Zacatenco, Ciudad de México, Mexico;2. Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, San Bartolo Atepehuacan, Ciudad de México, Mexico;3. Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México, Mexico |
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| Abstract: | The activity of copolymers poly (propylene oxide)-poly (ethylene oxide) (PPO-PEO) with different amount of PEO (10 and 15 wt%) was studied on the separation of water from water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. The results show an increase in the interfacial activity of the copolymer when PEO concentration was 15 wt%. However, the increase in molecular size of the copolymer due to high concentration of PEO may cause problems related to transport through the emulsion. Thus, while the PPO-PEO10 copolymer was more active for the separation of water present in the W/O emulsion of 6.4° API, which is highly viscous, the PPO-PEO15 copolymer was more effective for the W/O emulsion of 7.1° API, which is highly stable. |
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| Keywords: | Copolymer crude oil separation W/O emulsion water |
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