Hyperbranched Demulsifier Composition for Safer Crude Oil Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing demulsifying agents, such as ethylene oxide grafted phenolic resins, are insufficiently effective in breaking crude oil emulsions and require special handling due to their flammability, necessitating the development of more effective and safer alternatives.
Innovation Solution
The use of environmentally friendly, hyper-branched copolymers of phenol-formaldehyde resins comprising phenol residues, propylene oxide residues, and glycidol residues, which enhance hydrophilic group interactions to facilitate water separation in hydrocarbon emulsions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ethylene oxide grafted phenolic resins are used as demulsifying agents, then emulsion breaking capability is provided, but safety hazards increase due to flammability and reactivity requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters by replacing ethylene oxide with propylene oxide and glycidol, maintaining the demulsifying function while eliminating the flammability and reactivity hazards associated with ethylene oxide. This parameter substitution resolves the contradiction between achieving emulsion breaking capability and avoiding safety hazards.
2Reliability
If ethylene oxide based demulsifying agents are used, then emulsion breaking is attempted, but performance is insufficient for effective crude oil emulsion separation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite demulsifying agent by combining phenolic resin with propylene oxide and glycidol moieties. This composite structure integrates the emulsion-breaking properties of phenolic resin with the hydrophilic characteristics of propylene oxide and glycidol, achieving superior water removal efficiency and emulsion separation performance compared to ethylene oxide based agents.
3Ease of manufacture
If special process handling equipment is used for ethylene oxide, then reactive gas handling is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the ethylene oxide component from the demulsifying agent formulation, replacing it with safer alternatives. This removal of the hazardous gas component completely eliminates the need for special process handling equipment and complex safety infrastructure, resolving the contradiction between gas handling capability and device complexity.
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
These copolymers demonstrate improved emulsion breaking performance by increasing hydrophilic group interactions, reducing the need for flammable gases and specialized handling equipment, and enhancing the separation of oil and water.
Implementation Method 1
it is believed that the demulsifying agents of the present disclosure perform better than prior demulsifying agents due to increased numbers of hydrophilic groups, since combining functional hyper-branched compounds with the phenol resin structure allows multiple hydrophilic groups to coexist in a single branch of the demulsifying agent. These hydrophilic groups are believed to bind to water molecules, facilitating the separation of oil in water emulsions.
Data Source
AI summary
A demulsifying agent may comprise the structureR1 may be a hydrocarbyl group or heterohydrocarbyl group comprising from 1 to 20 carbon atoms. m may be from 2 to 10, n may be from 5 to 20, and p may be from 2 to 15. R2 may comprise a residue of propylene oxide. R3 may comprise a residue of glycidol. Embodiments of the present disclosure may further comprise methods of making the demulsifying agent and methods of using the demulsifying agent to demulsify a hydrocarbon emulsion.