Emulsion breaking

Breaking up of emulsion of water in oil to water and oil phases, either on site or in a suitable facility plant. Water in oil emulsions are very viscous and may contain up to 50 to 80% of water.
==> Unstable emulsions can be broken by simple decantation or by heat treatment followed by decantation. The oil/water mixture should preferably be heated by circulation through an external heat-exchanger.
==> Stable emulsions can be broken up by using demulsifying chemicals, which should be used as early as possible. The recommended dose rate varies with the type of oil and the age of the emulsion, but are usually very low (ranges from 250 to 5,000 ppm). Process lasts a minimum of 10 to 20 minutes.
 

Emulsified oil

Heating equipment can be easily implemented.
Demulsifying chemicals are easy to import and implement in any country.
 

Any decrease of the content of water in the emulsion implies less waste to treat afterwards. Water and oil can then be recovered separately using decantation or centrifugation.

Any emulsified oil.

==> Heating. The safe working temperature limits is usually considered to be the flash point of the oil less 8°C. Generally, a working temperature of 60-66°C is used with a maximum temperature of 80°C to maintain operational safety.
==> Use of demulsifying chemicals. There is no « universal » product. Screening and test will be required.
 

Emulsion breaking: minimal if equipment is suitable, correctly operated and there are no oil leaks.
==> Demulsifying chemicals may remain in the water after separation so care will be needed when disposing of the water.
==> The water phase may be discharged in the environment when emulsion breaking is carried out on the recovery site (since the residual oil content is unlikely to increase damage to any species in an area already affected by a significant oil spill).
If emulsion breaking is carried out after the clean-up operations, the water recovered should undergo further treatment via a separator unit to further reduce the oil content
 

Refer to those applying to the transport, handling and storage of oil products, and discharge of water in the environment.

Generally, after separation into two layers, the water phase contains less than 1,000ppm of oil.

CAPEX will depend on the type of installation used but will be limited (specially for demulsifying agent).

OPEX are also limited as installations are simple, and limited personnel are required (less than 50 euros / m3).