STABILIZATION OF MODEL CRUDE OIL EMULSION BY ASPHALTENE

Abstract

As part of an ongoing research into the stability of oil-field emulsions, model oils have been utilized to probe the effects of asphaltene interactions on crude oil/water emulsion stability. Asphaltenes were precipitated from treated Ondo State oil sand bitumen with n-hexane in a 40:1 solvent to bitumen ratio which was allowed to stand for 24 hours and then filtered. Model oils were prepared from n-hexane and toluene with varying masses of asphaltene dissolved in them (0.05-0.1%). Emulsions were prepared from mixtures of model oil with 5ml of de-ionized water. Results showed that the stability of the prepared emulsions increased with asphaltene concentration of the model oil; with the model oil containing 0.1% of asphaltene forming the most stable emulsion. Therefore, the higher the concentration of asphaltene in the model oil, the more stable the model oil/water emulsions formed. This is similar to literature reports on oil-field emulsion therefore the interaction of asphaltene with the prepared model oils can be used as a model to study crude oil emulsion stabilization processes.