Thermal treatment of model water-in-oil emulsions by coal fly ash particles

Abstract

One of the primary challenges in the oil industry is the formation of stable crude oil emulsions, which cause equipment and pipeline corrosion due to the inorganic salts dissolved in the aqueous phase. This study investigated the effect of coal fly ash on model crude oil emulsions. The model emulsions were prepared using crude oil samples from the Kyzylorda and Atyrau regions. Thermal demulsification at 60°C resulted in a low dewatering rate, with only 16% of water separated from a 50% water-in-oil emulsion. Higher efficiency in oil emulsion separation was observed using the microwave treatment method. The highest dewatering degree was achieved for the Atyrau crude oil emulsion, reaching 75% after 155 seconds for a 50% emulsion with a 1% ash concentration at a microwave power of 700 W, while the dewatering for the Kyzylorda oilfield emulsion was 50% under the same conditions. This difference in demulsification efficiency is attributed to the composition of the crude oil samples. It has been demonstrated that the microwave treatment method combined with the use of coal fly ash enables the separation of water-in-oil emulsions within a short period.