ABSTRACT
Emulsion formation is one of the crucial problem faced in the petroleum industry, its effect in the daily operation and profitability of the sector cannot be overemphasized, it is therefore Important to demulsify the crude oil emulsion, using an effective and less toxic demulsifier. The aim of this research work is to study the demulsification of crude oil emulsion using Propan-2-ol, varying four dosages from 0.5ml to 2.0ml and four different temperature from 30 to 60
The crude oil emulsion was prepared using (1:1v/v) of distilled water and prepared oil field brine of 2.4% salinity, the mixture was then agitated at 1300rpm for 3 hours to form a stable emulsion. The bottle test method was used in the demulsification process, the effect of contact time of 60mins with an interval of 10mins, dosage level and increase in temperature on the volume of water separated were studied using the volume ratio of 0.5:20, 1:20, 1.5:20 and 2:20 of propan-2-ol to crude oil emulsion.
The results showed that Propan-2-ol is an effective demulsifier since much of the water were separated in less than 10mins, the effect of contact time using 0.5ml of propan-2-ol shows an increase in the rate of demulsification, with 60mins giving the highest value of 12.0ml of water seperated. Increasing the dosage level shows an increase in the rate of demulsification with 2.0ml giving the highest value of 15ml of the water separated. Increase in temperature also increased the rate of demulsification as temperature of 60, gave the highest volume of 15ml of water separated.
