Dissipative particle dynamics investigation of demulsification process and mechanism of comb‐like block polyether

Abstract

Chemical demulsification is the most frequently used demulsification method. Various experimental approaches have been developed to investigate the demulsification process and the demulsification mechanism. This paper designed three different hydrophobic monomer composition of comb‐like block polyether demulsifiers, and the demulsification process and demulsification mechanism of comb‐like block polyether demulsifier in crude oil emulsions were studied by dissipative particle dynamics simulation. The demulsification process can be described as follows: (1) flocculation stage; (2) coalescence stage. The coalescence constant has a great effect on the demulsification efficiency. Radial distribution function reflects the emulsion, crude oil asphaltenes, and glials interactions exist. As demulsification progresses, the root mean square end‐to‐end distance increases significantly with time, which indicates a long chain polymer adsorbed at the interface with the free stretching configuration. Consequently, the demulsifiers will “replace” the asphaltenes at the interface, forming an “open network” which leads to a higher possibility of droplet–droplet coalescence.