PETROLEUM EMULSIONS - BASIC PRINCIPLES

This chapter provides an introduction to the occurrence, properties, and importance of petroloum emulsions. From light crude oils to bitumens, spanning a wide array of bulk physical properties and stabilities, a common starting point for understanding emulsions is provided by the fundamental principles of colloid science. These principles may be applied to emulsions in different ways to achieve quite different results. A desirable emulsion that must be carefully stabilized to assist one stage of an oil production process may be undesirable in another stage and necessitate a demulsification strategy. With an emphasis on the definition of important terms, the importance of interfactal properties to emulsion making and stability is demonstrated. Demulsification is more complex than just the reverse of emulsion making, but can still be approached from an understanding of how emulsions can be stabilized.