Demulsification of Crude Oil in Water (O/W) Emulsions using Graphene Oxide

Demulsification of Crude Oil in Water (O/W) Emulsions using Graphene Oxide

Crude oil

Demulsification

Petroleum industry

Emulsions

Graphene

Emulsification

Enhanced recovery

Ostwald ripening

Gas industry

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Process engineering

Implementation of nanotechnology in oil and gas industries, particularly for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has recently gained interest. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) has been synthesized and used as nano-demulsifier for crude oil in water (O/W) emulsions. GO was synthesized by using modified Hummers' method and characterized using X-Ray diffractometer (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Subsequently, the nano-demulsifier's performances were tested to Field D crude oil-water emulsions by varying nano-demulsifier concentrations and contact time. The performances of GO for demulsication of crude oil-in-water emulsions were then determined by measuring the oil contents in water using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Demulsification tests indicated that the optimum GO concentration was around 20-40 ppm, while the optimum contact time was 30 min. The residual oil content in the separated water was as low as 100 ppm. This might be due to the amphiphilic properties of GO. It indicates that the GO is a promising demulsifier and by further understanding the intrinsic interaction between GO and crude oil, the performances of GO can be easily tailored in the future. Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

458

5th International Conference on Process Engineering and Advanced Materials, ICPEAM 2018, August 13, 2018 - August 14, 2018

2018

Othman, Nur Hidayati

Jahari, Ahmad Fadhil

Alias, Nur Hashimah

Jarni, Husna Hayati

Shahruddin, Munawar Zaman

Irfan, Mohd Fazril

Dollah, Aqilah

Halim, Nor Hadhirah

conferencePaper

17578981

10.1088/1757-899X/458/1/012023