Alkyl Phenol Resin Demulsifier for Water-in-Oil Emulsion Breaking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current demulsifying agents are inadequate in effectively breaking water and oil emulsions, particularly in desalter apparatuses, bitumen demulsification processes, and drilling mud emulsions, leading to inefficiencies in separation and potential equipment damage due to residual contaminants.
Innovation Solution
A combination of a C5-C7 alkyl phenol-formaldehyde resin alkoxylate and polyalkylene oxide triblock polyol surfactants, with the resin present in 90-50% weight and the surfactant in 10-50% weight, is used to contact the emulsion, enhancing coalescence and separation by reducing interfacial tension and stabilizing the emulsion phases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional demulsifying agents are used, then emulsion breaking is achieved, but the separation efficiency is inadequate and residual contaminants remain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines alkyl phenol formaldehyde resin alkoxylate with polyalkylene oxide triblock polyol surfactants to create a composite demulsifying agent. This composite formulation leverages the synergistic effects of both components: the resin provides strong emulsion breaking capability while the polyol surfactant enhances coalescence and separation efficiency, resulting in effective emulsion breaking with minimal residual contaminants.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the weight ratio parameters of the composite demulsifier, specifically maintaining alkyl phenol formaldehyde resin alkoxylate at 50-90% and polyalkylene oxide triblock polyol surfactant at 10-50%. This parameter optimization ensures maximum separation efficiency while maintaining reliable emulsion breaking performance across different crude oil types.
2Speed
If demulsifying agents are added to accelerate separation, then water droplet coalescence speed increases, but equipment complexity and potential contamination risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The composite demulsifying agent acts as an intermediary substance that facilitates water droplet coalescence without requiring complex equipment modifications. The chemical composition of the demulsifier (alkyl phenol formaldehyde resin alkoxylate combined with polyalkylene oxide triblock polyol surfactant) enables rapid coalescence through interfacial tension reduction and droplet destabilization, achieving fast separation using existing simple separation infrastructure.
3Productivity
If traditional demulsifiers are used, then emulsion separation occurs, but banned substances like nonyl phenol derivatives may be present causing environmental safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates harmful banned substances (nonyl phenol derivatives) from the demulsifying agent formulation. Instead, it uses environmentally safer alternatives: alkyl phenol formaldehyde resin alkoxylate and polyalkylene oxide triblock polyol surfactants. This extraction of harmful components maintains demulsification efficiency while resolving environmental safety concerns.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The combination significantly accelerates water droplet coalescence and separation, outperforming previous formulations, especially in light and medium asphatic crude oils, while avoiding the use of banned substances like nonyl phenol derivatives, thus improving the efficiency and environmental safety of the demulsification process.
Implementation Method 1
a polyalkylene oxide triblock polyol surfactant wherein (1) is present in an amount of about 90-50% by weight based upon the combined weight of (1) and (2) the surfactant (2) is present in an amount of about 10-50% by weight based upon the combined weight of (1) and (2)
Implementation Method 2
enhancing coalescence and separation by reducing interfacial tension and stabilizing the emulsion phases
Implementation Method 3
Separation of the phases occurs due to coalescence of the small water droplets into progressively larger droplets and eventual gravity separation of the oil and underlying water phase
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-component demulsifier comprising an alkoxylated C5-C7 alkyl substituted phenol-formaldehyde resin and at least one polyalkylene oxide triblock copolymer. This synergistic combination of materials is useful in breaking emulsions, of water in hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon in water.