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DEMCON Method (For Evaluating Demulsifier Performance)

The document describes a new method called DEMCON (DEmulsification Monitoring by CONductivity measurement) for evaluating demulsifier performance. It measures the conductivity of separated water over time during demulsification to automatically monitor the process. A calibration curve is made to correlate conductivity to water content. Results using DEMCON are comparable to the traditional "bottle test" method but DEMCON provides more detailed data without human interference. The document concludes DEMCON is a useful complementary method to the bottle test.

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204 views17 pages

DEMCON Method (For Evaluating Demulsifier Performance)

The document describes a new method called DEMCON (DEmulsification Monitoring by CONductivity measurement) for evaluating demulsifier performance. It measures the conductivity of separated water over time during demulsification to automatically monitor the process. A calibration curve is made to correlate conductivity to water content. Results using DEMCON are comparable to the traditional "bottle test" method but DEMCON provides more detailed data without human interference. The document concludes DEMCON is a useful complementary method to the bottle test.

Uploaded by

odracir091865
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The DEMCON method, a new way forward for evaluating Demulsifier performance

Authors J.van Dijk and H. Oschmann Champion Servo Europe BV Presented by Alfred Hase

Outline
Introduction Principle of the method Test equipment and procedure Calibration curve for mixtures of separated water and low conductivity water Calculation of the amount of separated water based on conductivity measuring results Results of the DEMCON experiments and the bottle test Comparison of Bottle Test and DEMCON Conclusions and recommendations Acknowledgement, Literature

Principle of the method

The method is based on the idea that the conductivity, as such of the emulsified water, is a constant and the same for the first, as well as for the last separated drop of water Measuring the resulting conductivity continuously as function of time and by using data logging, a suitable program and a personal computer or laptop, it is possible to register automatically the demulsification process

DEMCON method
DEMCON is an acronym of DEmulsification Monitoring by CONductivity Measurement

DEMCON - Method DEmulsification Monitoring by CONductivity

Conductivity meter

Registrator (PC or Laptop)

Thermostatic liquid Conductivity electrode Crude Oil Emulsion Water phase Magnetic stirrer

Test procedure (1):

The conductivity of the water used for mixing also needs to be known
A calibration curve for the conductivity as function of the ratios of both water qualities has to be made A crude sample is heated to the test temperature The demulsifier is dosed and mixed thoroughly The test cell is filled with a measured quantity of water for mixing and thermostated to the test temperature

Test procedure (2):


The conductivity measuring electrode as well as a magnetic stirrer is placed in the water phase
A measured quantity of the prepared crude emulsion sample is poured carefully on top of the water phase Start stirring moderately to obtain a fast and reliable signal response The measuring starts from time zero and will continue as long as the monitored and logged signal indicates that the separation is still in progress

Conductivity Calibration Curve for mixtures of separated water and low conductivity water
12 12

conductivity x10^4 [S]

4 y = 0.0998x + 0.3184 2

0 0 20 40 60 80

0 100

low conductivity water 100 m%

separated water 100 m%

conductivity x10^4 [S]

10

10

Calculation of the amount of separated water based on conductivity measuring results Y= X+C Z=X*100/M X=(Y-C)/
[104S] [104S / m%] [m%]

Y = The measured conductivity of the actual mixture of both waters

= 0.106, the slope of the trend line of the calibration curve


X = The fraction of the separated water in the water mixture

C = 0.232, is the intercept of the trend line at 0 m% of separated water [104S] M = Emulsified water weight fraction in the crude oil emulsion Z = Fraction separated water of the total amount of emulsified water [m%] [m%]

Comparison results of the bottle test and the DEMCON method 15ppm Product B and C
15 ppm Product B 100% 80% separated water [m%] separated water [m%] 60% 40% 20% 0% -20% 0 20 40 60 80 100 time [min] DEMCON 1 DEMCON 2 Bottle test 1 Bottle test 2 Bottle test 3 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% -20% 0 20 40 60 80 100 time [min] DEMCON 1 DEMCON 2 Bottle test 1 Bottle test 2 Bottle test 3 15 ppm Product C

Comparison results of the Bottletest and the DEMCOM method 30ppm products E1, E2 and E3
100%

Comparison results of the Bottle test and the DEMCON method 30 ppm products E1, E2 and E3

80%

separated water [m%]

60%

40%

20%

0%

-20% 0 10 20 30 40 50 tim e [m in] Bottle tes t 1, E1 Bottle tes t 1, E2 Bottle tes t 1, E3 Bottle te s t 2, E1 Bottle te s t 2, E2 Bottle te s t 2, E3 Bottle tes t 3, E1 Bottle tes t 3, E2 Bottle tes t 3, E3 DEMCON E1 DEMCON E2 DEMCON E3 60 70 80 90 100

Comparison of Bottle test and DEMCON


Classic Bottle test

Very traditional Well excepted by industry Relative simple to perform Great number of tests are possible Registering results is labour intensive

DEMCON method

No human interferences in reading results Registering results is automatized Measuring conductivity has a high accuracy More details about the demulsification process Demulsifier characteristics fed into data files Comparing results easier from data files

Conclusions and Recommendations


The calibration curves are easy to run and good reproducible For further experiments it is advised to add just a slight amount of salt to it in order to get a stable conductivity, which is easier to reproduce and should improve the accuracy of the constant C The DEMCON method is based on measuring conductivity, which is an easy and accurate to measure signal Results generated in the DEMCON method are comparable with the Bottle Test results The shape of the lines is representative of the demulsifying characteristic; this is the same in both tests The DEMCON method has only practical value if more cells are available

Acknowledgement
The authors want to thank Mr. Marcel Huis in t Veld posthumously for his support in performing the tests, his critique on interpretation and in discussing the results.

Literature
Babchin, A.J.; Chow, R.S.; Sawatzky, R.P. Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 1989, 30, 111 Isaacs, E.E.; Huang, H.; Chow, R.S.;Babchin, A.J. Colloids Surf. 1990, 46, 177-192 D.J. Miller, Hoechst AG, Abt TH Forschung, Frankfurt, B.R.D. Colloid & Interface Science 265:342-346(1987). Coalescence in crude oil emulsions investigated by a light transmission method. Christine Dalmazzone, Christine Nok / Institut Franais du Ptrol IFP Development of green Demulsifiers for Oil Production. SPE 65041, February 2001

Thank you for you attention

Determination of average conductivity per % separated water


x10^4S product formula for trend line y = x + C y = 0.0998x + 0.3184 y = 0.1021x + 0.2961 y = 0.1088x + 0.1667 y = 0.1077x + 0.1704 y = 0.1089x + 0.1832 y = 0.105x + 0.2265 y = 0.106x + 0.2458 y = 0.1077x + 0.2489 average st.dev. [x10^4S/m%] 0.0998 0.1021 0.1088 0.1077 0.1089 0.1050 0.1060 0.1077 0.106 0.003 C [m%] 0.3184 0.2961 0.1667 0.1704 0.1832 0.2265 0.2458 0.2489 0.232 0.057 at x=0% 0 0.318 0.296 0.167 0.170 0.183 0.227 0.246 0.249 0.232 0.057 at x=100% 100 10.298 10.506 11.047 10.940 11.073 10.727 10.846 11.019 10.807 0.280

experiment 2 experiment 3 experiment 4 experiment 5 experiment 6 experiment 7 experiment 8 experiment 9

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