Abstract
The energy production industry is confronted with a multitude of obstacles, particularly within the field of oil production. One such challenge pertains to the formation and stability of oil emulsions. The water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion is stabilized by native crude oil emulsifiers, which migrate and concentrate at the water/oil interface. The water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion is stabilized by native crude oil emulsifiers, which migrate and concentrate at the water/oil interface and form a barrier preventing droplet coalescence. Asphaltenes, resins, waxes, and fine solid particles are natural emulsifiers that stabilize emulsion. Therefore, it is crucial to address the challenges inherent to oil production by employing efficacious techniques to treat emulsions at the earliest stages of oil extraction. This approach can effectively minimize supplementary production costs associated with the transportation and storage of crude oil. The chemical method of demulsification represents the most prevalent approach to emulsion resolution in oil fields. The unique properties of nanoparticles come from their size, surface area, and many other unique physicochemical properties. A large number of nanoparticles have been investigated in demulsification applications for enhanced oil recovery, either alone or in combination with surfactants. This work presents a discussion of the preparation of a new nanocomposite through the interaction of ZrO₂.B₂O₃ nanoparticles with surfactant cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and evaluates its efficacy as a demulsifier for the separation of water-in-oil emulsions. The structure and morphology of the prepared ZrO₂.B₂O₃-[CTAB] were characterized by XRD, EDS, FESEM, TEM and FT-IR analytical methods. In addition, the effectiveness of the prepared nanocomposite as a demulsifier was tested using the bottle test method. In order to comprehend the mechanism of action of the prepared nanocomposite, the interfacial tension of the crude oil emulsion was measured in the presence and absence of a nanodemulsifier using the Nouy ring method. Additionally, the critical micelle concentration was calculated using the molar conductivity method to determine the minimum concentration required to initiate the aggregation of nanodemulsifier particles. In addition to the semi-experimental determination of the compatibility of the nano-demulsifier for application in the demulsification process, the equilibrium values of the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance were calculated and found to be equal to 9.8, which is deemed suitable for the destabilization of water-in-oil emulsions. Practical measurements demonstrated a gradual decrease in the IFT of the oil/water mixture from 24.22 to 7.56 mN/m in the presence of ZrO₂.B₂O₃-[CTAB]. Moreover, the experimental findings demonstrated that the nanocomposite exhibited optimal demulsification efficiency within a 90-min time frame, 60 °C, and at a concentration of 80 ppm was achieved at 72.4%. The study also investigated the effect of some factors on the demulsification efficiency and identified temperature, settling time, and dosage as influential factors in the process of demulsifying W/O emulsion. A comparative analysis was conducted between the effectiveness of the prepared nanocomposite and the commercial demulsifier (DRCI1286) utilized in Halfaya oil fields.