Interactions Between Chemical Additives and Their Effects on Emulsion Separation

In offshore production, chemical additives are used to combat various operational problems such as corrosion, scaling, foaming and emulsion formation etc. Although individual chemicals may be found to be effective when used alone, there is no guarantee that they will perform as well when present as part of the complex cocktail of additives in the production fluids entering the primary separator. Little is known about interactions between these chemical additives and their effects on gas/oil/water phase separation. This paper will report results from a multi-national sponsored project with the aim of understanding the ways in which chemical additives interact and their effects on emulsion stability with an ultimate objective of developing a strategy for reduction of the chemical inventory offshore. The chemical additives studied include demulsifiers, corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors and antifoamants. Both interfacial tension and surface film pressure measurements have been successfully employed to identify interactions between chemical additives and their synergistic effects. Emulsion stability has been measured through conventional bottle tests. It was found that in most cases corrosion inhibitors increased emulsion stability considerably when present both alone and as part of a binary mixture. Interactions between the corrosion inhibitors and some of the demulsifiers were also observed.more » In contrast the de-foamant and scale inhibitors had little effect on emulsion stability and in most cases did not interact with the other additives.« less