707
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Pant et al. (eds.), Catalysis for Clean Energy and Environmental
Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65021-6_22
Stability and Destabilization of Water-inCrude Oil Emulsion
Vikky Anand and Rochish M. Thaokar
Abstract The crude oil explored from oil wells is in the form of a water-in-oil
emulsion. To process the oil for refining into different useful products, the water
needs to be separated from the water-in-oil emulsion. There are several procedures
reported for breaking the water-in-oil emulsion. Generally, the water present in
crude oil is in the form of brine droplets, and the salt concentration may vary from
a few hundred to several thousand ppm. The salts present in the crude oil create
severe problems in the downstream processing in refineries such as deactivation or
poisoning of the catalyst. Therefore, the removal of water from the emulsion is typically the first unit operation in a crude oil refinery. The overall process of separation
of water (brine) from crude oil is generally known as desalting. In this chapter, we
give a brief discussion on the stability as well as destabilization of the water-in-oil
emulsion system. The mechanism of demulsification and the method of breaking
water-in-oil emulsion are also discussed in detail.
Keywords Water-in-oil emulsion · Electrocoalescence · Desalting
1 Introduction
Petroleum is one of the most important products that form the backbone of the
economy as well as of the society. It is a major raw material for a variety of fuels
which provides energy for heating and transportation and is essential to the industry.
“The word petroleum, derived from the Latin petra (rock) and oleum (oil), refers to
hydrocarbons that occur widely in the sedimentary rocks in the form of gases,
V. Anand (*)
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur,
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: vikky@iitj.ac.in
R. M. Thaokar
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai, India
e-mail: rochish@che.iitb.ac.in
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Pant et al. (eds.), Catalysis for Clean Energy and Environmental
Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65021-6_22
Stability and Destabilization of Water-inCrude Oil Emulsion
Vikky Anand and Rochish M. Thaokar
Abstract The crude oil explored from oil wells is in the form of a water-in-oil
emulsion. To process the oil for refining into different useful products, the water
needs to be separated from the water-in-oil emulsion. There are several procedures
reported for breaking the water-in-oil emulsion. Generally, the water present in
crude oil is in the form of brine droplets, and the salt concentration may vary from
a few hundred to several thousand ppm. The salts present in the crude oil create
severe problems in the downstream processing in refineries such as deactivation or
poisoning of the catalyst. Therefore, the removal of water from the emulsion is typically the first unit operation in a crude oil refinery. The overall process of separation
of water (brine) from crude oil is generally known as desalting. In this chapter, we
give a brief discussion on the stability as well as destabilization of the water-in-oil
emulsion system. The mechanism of demulsification and the method of breaking
water-in-oil emulsion are also discussed in detail.
Keywords Water-in-oil emulsion · Electrocoalescence · Desalting
1 Introduction
Petroleum is one of the most important products that form the backbone of the
economy as well as of the society. It is a major raw material for a variety of fuels
which provides energy for heating and transportation and is essential to the industry.
“The word petroleum, derived from the Latin petra (rock) and oleum (oil), refers to
hydrocarbons that occur widely in the sedimentary rocks in the form of gases,
V. Anand (*)
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur,
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: vikky@iitj.ac.in
R. M. Thaokar
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai, India
e-mail: rochish@che.iitb.ac.in