Crude Oil Emulsion Properties and Their Application to Heavy Oil Transportation

TLDR

Recent advances in emulsion science show that surface rheology, driven by adsorbed layers of asphaltenes and other surface‑active molecules, governs the behavior of petroleum emulsions, especially for heavy oils rich in asphaltenes. The article reviews petroleum emulsion properties and the transport of high‑viscosity crude oil in water emulsions. The review examines how surface‑active molecules such as asphaltenes and fatty acids stabilize oil‑water interfaces and affect the transport of high‑viscosity crude oil in water emulsions.

Abstract

Many advances have been made in the field of emulsions in recent years. Emulsion behavior is largely controlled by the properties of the adsorbed layers that stabilize the oil-water surfaces. The knowledge of surface tension alone is not sufficient to understand emulsion properties, and surface rheology plays an important role in a variety of dynamic processes. The complexity of petroleum emulsions comes from the oil composition in terms of surface-active molecules contained in the crude, such as low molecular weight fatty acids, naphthenic acids and asphaltenes. These molecules can interact and reorganize at oil/water interfaces. The pronounced nonlinear behavior of surface rheology for asphaltene layers might explain differences in behavior between surfactant and asphaltene emulsions. These effects are very important in the case of heavy oils because this type of crude contains a large amount of asphaltene and surface-active compounds. This article reviews different petroleum emulsion properties and the transport of high viscosity hydrocarbon as a crude oil in water emulsion.