Demulsification of Crude Oil Emulsions: Correlation to Microemulsion Phase Behavior

The search for the appropriate demulsifier for a water-in-crude oil emulsion is generally carried out through the well-known “bottle test” technique. A comprehensive approach is proposed here, which is based on earlier work on the rate of separation of surfactant−water−hydrocarbon mixtures, where it was found that “optimal” type III systems, in Winsor's nomenclature, exhibits the fastest separation rate. It is shown that the rules developed for...