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Sample records for phases oil water

  1. Complex network analysis of phase dynamics underlying oil-water two-phase flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Zhang, Shan-Shan; Cai, Qing; Yang, Yu-Xuan; Jin, Ning-De

    2016-01-01

    Characterizing the complicated flow behaviors arising from high water cut and low velocity oil-water flows is an important problem of significant challenge. We design a high-speed cycle motivation conductance sensor and carry out experiments for measuring the local flow information from different oil-in-water flow patterns. We first use multivariate time-frequency analysis to probe the typical features of three flow patterns from the perspective of energy and frequency. Then we infer complex networks from multi-channel measurements in terms of phase lag index, aiming to uncovering the phase dynamics governing the transition and evolution of different oil-in-water flow patterns. In particular, we employ spectral radius and weighted clustering coefficient entropy to characterize the derived unweighted and weighted networks and the results indicate that our approach yields quantitative insights into the phase dynamics underlying the high water cut and low velocity oil-water flows. PMID:27306101

  2. Influence of fat crystals in the oil phase on stability of oil-in-water emulsions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boekel, van M.A.J.S.

    1980-01-01

    Coalescence at rest and during flow was studied in emulsions of paraffin oil in water with several surfactants and with crystals of solid paraffin or tristearate in the oil phase. Solid fat in the oil phase was estimated by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance. Without crystals, oil-in-water emulsions

  3. Novel Downhole Electromagnetic Flowmeter for Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow in High-Water-Cut Oil-Producing Wells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yanjun; Li, Haoyu; Liu, Xingbin; Zhang, Yuhui; Xie, Ronghua; Huang, Chunhui; Hu, Jinhai; Deng, Gang

    2016-10-14

    First, the measuring principle, the weight function, and the magnetic field of the novel downhole inserted electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) are described. Second, the basic design of the EMF is described. Third, the dynamic experiments of two EMFs in oil-water two-phase flow are carried out. The experimental errors are analyzed in detail. The experimental results show that the maximum absolute value of the full-scale errors is better than 5%, the total flowrate is 5-60 m³/d, and the water-cut is higher than 60%. The maximum absolute value of the full-scale errors is better than 7%, the total flowrate is 2-60 m³/d, and the water-cut is higher than 70%. Finally, onsite experiments in high-water-cut oil-producing wells are conducted, and the possible reasons for the errors in the onsite experiments are analyzed. It is found that the EMF can provide an effective technology for measuring downhole oil-water two-phase flow.

  4. Novel Downhole Electromagnetic Flowmeter for Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow in High-Water-Cut Oil-Producing Wells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanjun Wang

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available First, the measuring principle, the weight function, and the magnetic field of the novel downhole inserted electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF are described. Second, the basic design of the EMF is described. Third, the dynamic experiments of two EMFs in oil-water two-phase flow are carried out. The experimental errors are analyzed in detail. The experimental results show that the maximum absolute value of the full-scale errors is better than 5%, the total flowrate is 5–60 m3/d, and the water-cut is higher than 60%. The maximum absolute value of the full-scale errors is better than 7%, the total flowrate is 2–60 m3/d, and the water-cut is higher than 70%. Finally, onsite experiments in high-water-cut oil-producing wells are conducted, and the possible reasons for the errors in the onsite experiments are analyzed. It is found that the EMF can provide an effective technology for measuring downhole oil-water two-phase flow.

  5. Energy Demodulation Algorithm for Flow Velocity Measurement of Oil-Gas-Water Three-Phase Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yingwei Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Flow velocity measurement was an important research of oil-gas-water three-phase flow parameter measurements. In order to satisfy the increasing demands for flow detection technology, the paper presented a gas-liquid phase flow velocity measurement method which was based on energy demodulation algorithm combing with time delay estimation technology. First, a gas-liquid phase separation method of oil-gas-water three-phase flow based on energy demodulation algorithm and blind signal separation technology was proposed. The separation of oil-gas-water three-phase signals which were sampled by conductance sensor performed well, so the gas-phase signal and the liquid-phase signal were obtained. Second, we used the time delay estimation technology to get the delay time of gas-phase signals and liquid-phase signals, respectively, and the gas-phase velocity and the liquid-phase velocity were derived. At last, the experiment was performed at oil-gas-water three-phase flow loop, and the results indicated that the measurement errors met the need of velocity measurement. So it provided a feasible method for gas-liquid phase velocity measurement of the oil-gas-water three-phase flow.

  6. Multivariate recurrence network analysis for characterizing horizontal oil-water two-phase flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Zhang, Xin-Wang; Jin, Ning-De; Marwan, Norbert; Kurths, Jürgen

    2013-09-01

    Characterizing complex patterns arising from horizontal oil-water two-phase flows is a contemporary and challenging problem of paramount importance. We design a new multisector conductance sensor and systematically carry out horizontal oil-water two-phase flow experiments for measuring multivariate signals of different flow patterns. We then infer multivariate recurrence networks from these experimental data and investigate local cross-network properties for each constructed network. Our results demonstrate that a cross-clustering coefficient from a multivariate recurrence network is very sensitive to transitions among different flow patterns and recovers quantitative insights into the flow behavior underlying horizontal oil-water flows. These properties render multivariate recurrence networks particularly powerful for investigating a horizontal oil-water two-phase flow system and its complex interacting components from a network perspective.

  7. Partitioning of semi-soluble organic compounds between the water phase and oil droplets in produced water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Faksness, Liv-Guri; Grini, Per Gerhard; Daling, Per S

    2004-04-01

    When selecting produced water treatment technologies, one should focus on reducing the major contributors to the total environmental impact. These are dispersed oil and semi-soluble hydrocarbons, alkylated phenols, and added chemicals. Experiments with produced water have been performed offshore on the Statoil operated platforms Gullfaks C and Statfjord B. These experiments were designed to find how much of the environmentally relevant compounds were dissolved in the water phase and not associated to the dispersed oil in the produced water. Results show that the distribution between the dispersed oil and the water phase varies highly for the different components groups. For example the concentration of PAHs and the C6-C9 alkylated phenols is strongly correlated to the content of dispersed oil. Therefore, the technologies enhancing the removal of dispersed oil have a higher potential for reducing the environmental impact of the produced water than previously considered.

  8. Partitioning of semi-soluble organic compounds between the water phase and oil droplets in produced water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faksness, Liv-Guri; Grini, Per Gerhard; Daling, Per S.

    2004-01-01

    When selecting produced water treatment technologies, one should focus on reducing the major contributors to the total environmental impact. These are dispersed oil and semi-soluble hydrocarbons, alkylated phenols, and added chemicals. Experiments with produced water have been performed offshore on the Statoil operated platforms Gullfaks C and Statfjord B. These experiments were designed to find how much of the environmentally relevant compounds were dissolved in the water phase and not associated to the dispersed oil in the produced water. Results show that the distribution between the dispersed oil and the water phase varies highly for the different components groups. For example the concentration of PAHs and the C6-C9 alkylated phenols is strongly correlated to the content of dispersed oil. Therefore, the technologies enhancing the removal of dispersed oil have a higher potential for reducing the environmental impact of the produced water than previously considered

  9. The Finite Element Analysis for a Mini-Conductance Probe in Horizontal Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weihang Kong

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Oil-water two-phase flow is widespread in petroleum industry processes. The study of oil-water two-phase flow in horizontal pipes and the liquid holdup measurement of oil-water two-phase flow are of great importance for the optimization of the oil production process. This paper presents a novel sensor, i.e., a mini-conductance probe (MCP for measuring pure-water phase conductivity of oil-water segregated flow in horizontal pipes. The MCP solves the difficult problem of obtaining the pure-water correction for water holdup measurements by using a ring-shaped conductivity water-cut meter (RSCWCM. Firstly, using the finite element method (FEM, the spatial sensitivity field of the MCP is investigated and the optimized MCP geometry structure is determined in terms of the characteristic parameters. Then, the responses of the MCP for the oil-water segregated flow are calculated, and it is found that the MCP has better stability and sensitivity to the variation of water-layer thickness in the condition of high water holdup and low flow velocity. Finally, the static experiments for the oil-water segregated flow were carried out and a novel calibration method for pure-water phase conductivity measurements was presented. The validity of the pure-water phase conductivity measurement with segregated flow in horizontal pipes was verified by experimental results.

  10. The Finite Element Analysis for a Mini-Conductance Probe in Horizontal Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kong, Weihang; Kong, Lingfu; Li, Lei; Liu, Xingbin; Xie, Ronghua; Li, Jun; Tang, Haitao

    2016-08-24

    Oil-water two-phase flow is widespread in petroleum industry processes. The study of oil-water two-phase flow in horizontal pipes and the liquid holdup measurement of oil-water two-phase flow are of great importance for the optimization of the oil production process. This paper presents a novel sensor, i.e., a mini-conductance probe (MCP) for measuring pure-water phase conductivity of oil-water segregated flow in horizontal pipes. The MCP solves the difficult problem of obtaining the pure-water correction for water holdup measurements by using a ring-shaped conductivity water-cut meter (RSCWCM). Firstly, using the finite element method (FEM), the spatial sensitivity field of the MCP is investigated and the optimized MCP geometry structure is determined in terms of the characteristic parameters. Then, the responses of the MCP for the oil-water segregated flow are calculated, and it is found that the MCP has better stability and sensitivity to the variation of water-layer thickness in the condition of high water holdup and low flow velocity. Finally, the static experiments for the oil-water segregated flow were carried out and a novel calibration method for pure-water phase conductivity measurements was presented. The validity of the pure-water phase conductivity measurement with segregated flow in horizontal pipes was verified by experimental results.

  11. Design and numerical simulation on an auto-cumulative flowmeter in horizontal oil-water two-phase flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Beibei; Kong, Lingfu; Kong, Deming; Kong, Weihang; Li, Lei; Liu, Xingbin; Chen, Jiliang

    2017-11-01

    In order to accurately measure the flow rate under the low yield horizontal well conditions, an auto-cumulative flowmeter (ACF) was proposed. Using the proposed flowmeter, the oil flow rate in horizontal oil-water two-phase segregated flow can be finely extracted. The computational fluid dynamics software Fluent was used to simulate the fluid of the ACF in oil-water two-phase flow. In order to calibrate the simulation measurement of the ACF, a novel oil flow rate measurement method was further proposed. The models of the ACF were simulated to obtain and calibrate the oil flow rate under different total flow rates and oil cuts. Using the finite-element method, the structure of the seven conductance probes in the ACF was simulated. The response values for the probes of the ACF under the conditions of oil-water segregated flow were obtained. The experiments for oil-water segregated flow under different heights of the oil accumulation in horizontal oil-water two-phase flow were carried out to calibrate the ACF. The validity of the oil flow rate measurement in horizontal oil-water two-phase flow was verified by simulation and experimental results.

  12. Measurement of Vertical Oil-in-water Two-phase Flow Using Dual-modality ERT-EMF System

    OpenAIRE

    Faraj, Yousef; Wang, Mi; Jia, Jiabin; Wang, Qiang; Xie, Cheng-gang; Oddie, Gary; Primrose , Ken; Qiu, Changhua

    2015-01-01

    Oil-in-water two-phase flows are often encountered in the upstream petroleum industry. The measurement of phase flow rates is of particular importance for managing oil production and water disposal and/or water reinjection. The complexity of oil-in-water flow structures creates a challenge to flow measurement. This paper proposes a new method of two-phase flow metering, which is based on the use of dual-modality system and multidimensional data fusion. The Electrical Resistance Tomography sys...

  13. Magnitude and sign correlations in conductance fluctuations of horizontal oil water two-phase flow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, L; Jin, N D; Gao, Z K; Zong, Y B; Zhai, L S; Wang, Z Y

    2012-01-01

    In experiment we firstly define five typical horizontal oil-water flow patterns. Then we introduce an approach for analyzing signals by decomposing the original signals increment into magnitude and sign series and exploring their scaling properties. We characterize the nonlinear and linear properties of horizontal oil-water two-phase flow, which relate to magnitude and sign series respectively. We find that the joint distribution of different scaling exponents can effectively identify flow patterns, and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) on magnitude and sign series can represent typical horizontal oil-water two-phase flow dynamics characteristics. The results indicate that the magnitude and sign decomposition method can be a helpful tool for characterizing complex dynamics of horizontal oil-water two-phase flow.

  14. The removal of fatty acids from edible oil : removal of the dispersed phase of a water-in-oil dispersion by a hydrophilic membrane

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Keurentjes, J.T.F.; Doornbusch, G.I.; Riet, van 't K.

    1991-01-01

    Fatty acids can be extracted from an oil phase by forming a dispersed phase of saponified fatty acids/water/isopropanol in oil. This dispersion can be separated in the two phases by two membranes of opposite polarity in series. In this study the separation of the water phase from the dispersion by a

  15. Pattern transitions of oil-water two-phase flow with low water content in rectangular horizontal pipes probed by terahertz spectrum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Xin; Wu, Shi-Xiang; Zhao, Kun; Wang, Wei; Zhan, Hong-Lei; Jiang, Chen; Xiao, Li-Zhi; Chen, Shao-Hua

    2015-11-30

    The flow-pattern transition has been a challenging problem in two-phase flow system. We propose the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) to investigate the behavior underlying oil-water flow in rectangular horizontal pipes. The low water content (0.03-2.3%) in oil-water flow can be measured accurately and reliably from the relationship between THz peak amplitude and water volume fraction. In addition, we obtain the flow pattern transition boundaries in terms of flow rates. The critical flow rate Qc of the flow pattern transitions decreases from 0.32 m3 h to 0.18 m3 h when the corresponding water content increases from 0.03% to 2.3%. These properties render THz-TDS particularly powerful technology for investigating a horizontal oil-water two-phase flow system.

  16. Study of content of oil phase in the nanoemulsion oil/water during the oil demulsification; Aplicacao de nanoemulsoes com diferentes teores de fase oleosa no processo de desemulsificacao de petroleo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Souza, Veronica B.; Almeida, Sarah M. de; Mansur, Claudia R.E. [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (IMA/UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Macromoleculas Professora Eloisa Mano. Lab. de Macromoleculas e Coloides na Industria de Petroleo], e-mails: veronicabs@ima.ufrj.br, celias@ima.ufrj.br

    2011-07-01

    Oil-in-water nano emulsions are being developed to break up crude oil emulsions. In this initial study, the nanoemulsions were prepared the nonionic ethoxylated polymeric surfactants lauryl ether (Ultrol L100) - and the solvent xylene as the oil phase. The nanoemulsions obtained with 5,7 and 10%wt of the oil phase were evaluated for their efficiency in demulsifying oil emulsions by means of gravitational separation tests (bottle tests). For purposes of comparison, the efficiency was evaluated of aqueous solution of the pure surfactant and solvent xylene in the same concentrations used to prepare the nanoemulsions. The results show that the nanoemulsions are an alternative to demulsify water-in-oil emulsions with efficiency values of 90-95%. Moreover, was observed the influence the concentration oil phase in the nanoemulsion: the higher the concentration of oil phase, the higher the rate of break up crude oil emulsion. (author)

  17. Efficient quantification of water content in edible oils by headspace gas chromatography with vapour phase calibration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Wei-Qi; Gong, Yi-Xian; Yu, Kong-Xian

    2018-06-01

    An automated and accurate headspace gas chromatographic (HS-GC) technique was investigated for rapidly quantifying water content in edible oils. In this method, multiple headspace extraction (MHE) procedures were used to analyse the integrated water content from the edible oil sample. A simple vapour phase calibration technique with an external vapour standard was used to calibrate both the water content in the gas phase and the total weight of water in edible oil sample. After that the water in edible oils can be quantified. The data showed that the relative standard deviation of the present HS-GC method in the precision test was less than 1.13%, the relative differences between the new method and a reference method (i.e. the oven-drying method) were no more than 1.62%. The present HS-GC method is automated, accurate, efficient, and can be a reliable tool for quantifying water content in edible oil related products and research. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  18. Multivariate multiscale complex network analysis of vertical upward oil-water two-phase flow in a small diameter pipe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Yang, Yu-Xuan; Zhai, Lu-Sheng; Dang, Wei-Dong; Yu, Jia-Liang; Jin, Ning-De

    2016-02-02

    High water cut and low velocity vertical upward oil-water two-phase flow is a typical complex system with the features of multiscale, unstable and non-homogenous. We first measure local flow information by using distributed conductance sensor and then develop a multivariate multiscale complex network (MMCN) to reveal the dispersed oil-in-water local flow behavior. Specifically, we infer complex networks at different scales from multi-channel measurements for three typical vertical oil-in-water flow patterns. Then we characterize the generated multiscale complex networks in terms of network clustering measure. The results suggest that the clustering coefficient entropy from the MMCN not only allows indicating the oil-in-water flow pattern transition but also enables to probe the dynamical flow behavior governing the transitions of vertical oil-water two-phase flow.

  19. Investigation of the mixture flow rates of oil-water two-phase flow using the turbine flow meter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Donghui; Feng Feifei; Wu Yingxiang; Xu Jingyu

    2009-01-01

    In this work, the mixture flow rate of oil-water flows was studied using the turbine flow-meter. The research emphasis focuses on the effect of oil viscosity and input fluids flow rates on the precision of the meter. Experiments were conducted to measure the in-situ mixture flow rate in a horizontal pipe with 0.05m diameter using seven different viscosities of white oil and tap water as liquid phases. Results showed that both oil viscosity and input oil fraction exert a remarkable effect on measured results, especially when the viscosity of oil phase remained in the area of high value. In addition, for metering mixture flow rate using turbine flow-meter, the results are not sensitive to two-phase flow pattern according to the experimental data.

  20. The selective partitioning of the oligomers of polyethoxylated surfactant mixtures between interface and oil and water bulk phases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graciaa, Alain; Andérez, José; Bracho, Carlos; Lachaise, Jean; Salager, Jean-Louis; Tolosa, Laura; Ysambertt, Fredy

    2006-11-16

    Because their affinities for the oil and water phases vary considerably with the number of ethylene oxide units in their hydrophilic group, the ethoxylated nonionic species occurring in commercial products tend to behave in a non-collective way, with the low ethoxylation oligomers partitioning mostly in the oil phase. This results in a surfactant mixture at the interface which is more hydrophilic than the one which was introduced in the system in the first place. The pseudophase model is used to study the partitioning in Winsor III type systems, and to estimate the deviation of the interfacial mixture composition from the overall one. New results indicate that the selective partitioning into the oil phase increases when the oil phase becomes aromatic, when the total surfactant concentration decreases and when the water-to-oil ratio decreases.

  1. Effect of Alcohols on the Phase Behavior and Emulsification of a Sucrose Fatty Acid Ester/Water/Edible Oil System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuura, Tsutashi; Ogawa, Akihiro; Ohara, Yukari; Nishina, Shogo; Nakanishi, Maho; Gohtani, Shoichi

    2018-02-01

    The effect of alcohols (ethanol, 1-propanol, propylene glycol, glycerin, sucrose) on the phase behavior and emulsification of sucrose stearic acid ester (SSE)/water/edible vegetable oil (EVO) systems was investigated. Adding sucrose, propylene glycol, and glycerin narrowed the oil-separated two-phase region in the phase diagram of the SSE/water/EVO systems, whereas adding ethanol and 1-propanol expanded the oil-separated two-phase region. Changing the course of emulsification in the phase diagram showed that the size of the oil-droplet particle typically decreased in a system with a narrowed oil-separated region. The emulsification properties of the systems varied with respect to changes in the phase diagram. The microstructure of the systems was examined using small-angle X-ray scattering, and the ability to retain the oil in the lamellar structure of the SSEs was suggested as an important role in emulsification, because the mechanism of the systems was the same as that for the liquid crystal emulsification method.

  2. pH-induced inversion of water-in-oil emulsions to oil-in-water high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) using core cross-linked star (CCS) polymer as interfacial stabilizer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Qijing; Deng, Xiaoyong; An, Zesheng

    2014-06-01

    A pH-responsive core cross-linked star (CCS) polymer containing poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) arms was used as an interfacial stabilizer for emulsions containing toluene (80 v%) and water (20 v%). In the pH range of 12.1-9.3, ordinary water-in-oil emulsions were formed. Intermediate multiple emulsions of oil-in-water-in-oil and water-in-oil-in-water were formed at pH 8.6 and 7.5, respectively. Further lowering the pH resulted in the formation of gelled high internal phase emulsions of oil-in-water type in the pH range of 6.4-0.6. The emulsion behavior was correlated with interfacial tension, conductivity and configuration of the CCS polymer at different pH. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  3. Nonlinear analysis of gas-water/oil-water two-phase flow in complex networks

    CERN Document Server

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Wang, Wen-Xu

    2014-01-01

    Understanding the dynamics of multi-phase flows has been a challenge in the fields of nonlinear dynamics and fluid mechanics. This chapter reviews our work on two-phase flow dynamics in combination with complex network theory. We systematically carried out gas-water/oil-water two-phase flow experiments for measuring the time series of flow signals which is studied in terms of the mapping from time series to complex networks. Three network mapping methods were proposed for the analysis and identification of flow patterns, i.e. Flow Pattern Complex Network (FPCN), Fluid Dynamic Complex Network (FDCN) and Fluid Structure Complex Network (FSCN). Through detecting the community structure of FPCN based on K-means clustering, distinct flow patterns can be successfully distinguished and identified. A number of FDCN’s under different flow conditions were constructed in order to reveal the dynamical characteristics of two-phase flows. The FDCNs exhibit universal power-law degree distributions. The power-law exponent ...

  4. Effect of citronella essential oil fractions as oil phase on emulsion stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Septiyanti, Melati; Meliana, Yenny; Agustian, Egi

    2017-11-01

    The emulsion system consists of water, oil and surfactant. In order to create stable emulsion system, the composition and formulation between water phase, surfactant and oil phase are very important. Essential oil such as citronella oil has been known as active ingredient which has ability as insect repellent. This research studied the effect of citronella oil and its fraction as oil phase on emulsion stability. The cycle stability test was conducted to check the emulsion stability and it was monitored by pH, density, viscosity, particle size, refractive index, zeta potential, physical appearance and FTIR for 4 weeks. Citronellal fraction has better stability compared to citronella oil and rhodinol fraction with slight change of physical and chemical properties before and after the cycle stability test. However, it is need further study to enhance the stability of the emulsion stability for this formulation.

  5. Multi-Scale Long-Range Magnitude and Sign Correlations in Vertical Upward Oil-Gas-Water Three-Phase Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, An; Jin, Ning-de; Ren, Ying-yu; Zhu, Lei; Yang, Xia

    2016-01-01

    In this article we apply an approach to identify the oil-gas-water three-phase flow patterns in vertical upwards 20 mm inner-diameter pipe based on the conductance fluctuating signals. We use the approach to analyse the signals with long-range correlations by decomposing the signal increment series into magnitude and sign series and extracting their scaling properties. We find that the magnitude series relates to nonlinear properties of the original time series, whereas the sign series relates to the linear properties. The research shows that the oil-gas-water three-phase flows (slug flow, churn flow, bubble flow) can be classified by a combination of scaling exponents of magnitude and sign series. This study provides a new way of characterising linear and nonlinear properties embedded in oil-gas-water three-phase flows.

  6. Non-spherical micelles in an oil-in-water cubic phase

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Leaver, M.; Rajagopalan, V.; Ulf, O.

    2000-01-01

    phase, both with and without SDS, was established by NMR self-diffusion. In addition H-2 NMR relaxation experiments have demonstrated that the micelles in the cubic phase are non-spherical, having grown and changed shape upon formation of the cubic phase from the micellar solution. Small angle...... associated with the micellar cubic phase, Pm3n and Fd3m. The micellar volumes calculated for these space groups are similar and are consistent with a change in micellar geometry from spherical to prolate.......The cubic phase formed between the microemulsion and hexagonal phases of the ternary pentaethylene glycol dodecyl ether (C12E5)-decane-water system and that doped with small amounts of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) have been investigated. The presence of discrete oil-swollen micelles in the cubic...

  7. A new submarine oil-water separation system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Wen-Bin; Liu, Bo-Hong

    2017-12-01

    In order to solve the oil field losses of environmental problems and economic benefit caused by the separation of lifting production liquid to offshore platforms in the current offshore oil production, from the most basic separation principle, a new oil-water separation system has been processed of adsorption and desorption on related materials, achieving high efficiency and separation of oil and water phases. And the submarine oil-water separation device has been designed. The main structure of the device consists of gas-solid phase separation device, period separating device and adsorption device that completed high efficiency separation of oil, gas and water under the adsorption and desorption principle, and the processing capacity of the device is calculated.

  8. Modeling of phase equilibrium of North Sea oils with water and MEG

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frost, Michael Grynnerup; Kontogeorgis, Georgios; von Solms, Nicolas

    2016-01-01

    The complex phase equilibrium between reservoir fluids and associating compounds like water and glycols has become very important as the increasing global energy demand pushes the oil industry to use advanced methods to increase oil recovery, such as increasing the use of various chemicals...... to ensure a constant and safe production. The CPA equation of state has been successfully applied in the past to well defined systems and gas condensates containing associating compounds. It has also been extended to reservoir fluids in presence of water and polar chemicals using modified correlations...... for critical temperature, pressure and acentric factor.In this work, we evaluate CPA using recently developed correlations for predicting the binary interaction parameters between MEG/hydrocarbons and water/hydrocarbons, for a wide range of systems containing reservoir fluids and production chemicals...

  9. Three-phase flow (water, oil and gas in a vertical circular cylindrical duct with leaks: A theoretical study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W Santos

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This article describes the fluid dynamic behavior of a three-phase flow (water-oil-natural gas in a vertical pipe with or without leakage. The studied pipe has 8 meters in length, circular cross-section with 25 cm in diameter and a leak, which hole has a circular shape with 10mm diameter located in the center of pipe. The conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy for each phase (continuous phase - oil, dispersed phases - gas and water were numerically solved using ANSYS CFX software, in which the Eulerian-Eulerian model and the RNG - turbulence model were applied. Results of the pressure, velocity, temperature and volume fraction distributions of the involved phases are present and analyzed.

  10. Equilibres de phases dans les systèmes fluides petroliers-eau Phase Equilibria in Oil-Water Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peneloux A.

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Nous présentons quelques résultats obtenus à partir du logiciel FHYD qui permet le traitement des mélanges eau-fluides pétroliers, avec la détermination de la nature des phases (huile-gaz-eau-hydrate thermodynamiquement stables dans des conditions données de température et de pression, ainsi que de la quantité, de la composition de ces différentes phases et de leurs propriétés. Ce logiciel permet le tracé automatique des diagrammes de phases et nous présentons des exemples, depuis les systèmes binaires (eau-éthane, ternaires (eau-méthane-propane jusqu'aux fluides les plus complexes. La présence de sels (chlorure de sodium dissous est envisagée, ainsi que le calcul des conditions de dépôt du sel solide. Des exemples de problèmes pétroliers sont cités (gaz de séparateur saturé en eau, huile saturée en eau dans les conditions de gisement, huile en présence d'eau salée. Les estimations sur les quantités d'hydrate formées et leurs compositions sont comparées à des données expérimentales et aux résultats obtenus par d'autres logiciels. Le programme FHYD pourrait permettre une représentation plus réaliste de l'évolution des fluides pétroliers et des propriétés de transport de leurs différentes phases dans les modèles de simulation des conduites polyphasiques. This article presents a selection of results obtained with the FHYD program. This software allows simulation of mixtures composed of petroleum fluids and water, with determination of the nature of thermodynamically stable phases (oil-gas-water-hydrate under given conditions of temperature and pressure, along with the quantity, composition and properties of these different phases. Additionally, the program can automatically produce phase diagrams. Several examples of these have been included here, ranging from binary systems (water-ethane and ternary systems (water-methane-propane to the most complex petroleum fluids. The presence of dissolved salts

  11. Heavy oil, water and air three-phase flow patterns in horizontal pipes; Padroes de escoamento trifasico de oleo pesado, agua e ar em tubulacoes horizontais

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Trevisan, Francisco Exaltacao; Bannwart, Antonio Carlos [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP (Brazil)

    2004-07-01

    A significant extent of the Brazilian oil reserves consists of heavy oil, and its importance and economic value have been increasing in the last years. However, these oils, besides their elevated densities (API degree lower than 20), have viscosities higher than 100 mPa.s, which make it more difficult their transportation in pipelines. A solution for this problem is the injection of water in the pipe, which causes a reduction of the friction factor and, consequently, of the energy expend for a given oil flow rate. The two-phase flow of heavy oil and water has been the object of a number of recent studies, and concepts such as the core-flow technology can be useful for heavy oil transportation. But in production operations, gas is also present, initially dissolved in the oil phase then leaving the solution to form a free gas phase if the pressure drops below the bubble point pressure, the study of three-phase flow of heavy oil, water and gas is in order. The present paper presents the experimental work developed to evaluate the effect that this third phase causes on the heavy oil-water two-phase flow pattern. Initially two-phase flow of heavy and gas-water was studied to establish the flow rate ranges that cover the main patterns already known. The superficial velocities used varied from 0,04 to 0,5 m/s for water, 0,01 to 22 m/s for gas and 0,02 to 1,2 m/s for oil. After that, three-phase flow patterns were visually determined through a 2,84 cm i.d. plexiglas tube using a high-speed camera. Nine three-phase flow patterns were identified which are presented visually and described. These flow-patterns are also presented in flow maps where the effect of the gas phase can be observed. Water was the continuous phase for all flow patterns observed, ensuring a low pressure drop along the pipe. (author)

  12. Experimental Investigation of Two-Phase Oil (D130)-Water Flow in 4″ Pipe for Different Inclination Angles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaahid, S. M.; Basha, Mehaboob; Al-Hems, Luai M.

    2018-03-01

    Oil and water are often produced and transported together in pipelines that have various degrees of inclination from the horizontal. The flow of two immiscible liquids oil and water in pipes has been a research topic since several decades. In oil and chemical industries, knowledge of the frictional pressure loss in oil-water flows in pipes is necessary to specify the size of the pump required to pump the emulsions. An experimental investigation has been carried out for measurement of pressure drop of oil (D130)-water two-phase flows in 4 inch diameter inclined stainless steel pipe at different flow conditions. Experiments were conducted for different inclination angles including; 0°, 15°, 30° (for water cuts “WC” 0 - 100%). The flow rates at the inlet were varied from 4000 to 8000 barrels-per-day (BPD). For a given flow rate the frictional pressure drop has been found to increase (for all angles) from WC = 0 - 60%, and thereafter friction pressure drop decreases, this could be due phase inversion. For a given WC 40%, the frictional pressure drop has been found to increase with angle and flow rate. It has been noticed that inclination angle has appreciable effect on frictional pressure drop.

  13. An Adaptive Threshold Image Reconstruction Algorithm of Oil-Water Two-Phase Flow in Electrical Capacitance Tomography System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qin, M; Chen, D Y; Wang, L L; Yu, X Y

    2006-01-01

    The subject investigated in this paper is the ECT system of 8-electrode oil-water two-phase flow, and the measuring principle is analysed. In ART image-reconstruction algorithm, an adaptive threshold image reconstruction is presented to improve quality of image reconstruction and calculating accuracy of concentration, and generally the measurement error is about 1%. Such method can well solve many defects that other measurement methods may have, such as slow speed, high cost, and poor security and so on. Therefore, it offers a new method for the concentration measurement of oil-water two-phase flow

  14. Solubilization of tea seed oil in a food-grade water-dilutable microemulsion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lingli Deng

    Full Text Available Food-grade microemulsions containing oleic acid, ethanol, Tween 20, and water were formulated as a carrier system for tea seed oil (Camellia oleifera Abel.. The effect of ethanol on the phase behavior of the microemulsion system was clearly reflected in pseudo-ternary diagrams. The solubilization capacity and solubilization efficiency of tea seed oil dispersions were measured along the dilution line at a 70/30 surfactant/oil mass ratio with Tween 20 as the surfactant and oleic acid and ethanol (1:3, w/w as the oil phase. The dispersed phase of the microemulsion (1.5% weight ratio of tea seed oil to the total amount of oil, surfactant, and tea seed oil could be fully diluted with water without phase separation. Differential scanning calorimetry and viscosity measurements indicated that both the carrier and solubilized systems underwent a similar microstructure transition upon dilution. The dispersion phases gradually inverted from the water-in-oil phase ( 45% water along the dilution line.

  15. Organogel-emulsions with mixtures of β-sitosterol and γ-oryzanol: influence of water activity and type of oil phase on gelling capability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawalha, Hassan; den Adel, Ruud; Venema, Paul; Bot, Arjen; Flöter, Eckhard; van der Linden, Erik

    2012-04-04

    In this study, water-in-oil emulsions were prepared from water containing different salt concentrations dispersed in an oil phase containing a mixture of β-sitosterol and γ-oryzanol. In pure oil, the β-sitosterol and γ-oryzanol molecules self-assemble into tubular microstructures to produce a firm organogel. However, in the emulsion, the water molecules bind to the β-sitosterol molecules, forming monohydrate crystals that hinder the formation of the tubules and resulting in a weaker emulsion-gel. Addition of salt to the water phase decreases the water activity, thereby suppressing the formation of sitosterol monohydrate crystals even after prolonged storage times (∼1 year). When the emulsions were prepared with less polar oils, the tubular microstructure was promoted, which significantly increased the firmness of the emulsion-gel. The main conclusion of this study is that the formation of oryzanol and sitosterol tubular microstructure in the emulsion can be promoted by reducing the water activity and/or by using oils of low polarity.

  16. Oil-in-Water Emulsions Stabilized by Saponified Epoxidized Soybean Oil-Grafted Hydroxyethyl Cellulose.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Xujuan; Li, Qiaoguang; Liu, He; Shang, Shibin; Shen, Minggui; Song, Jie

    2017-05-03

    An oil-in-water emulsion stabilized by saponified epoxidized soybean oil-grafted hydroxyethyl cellulose (H-ESO-HEC) was investigated. By using an ultrasonic method, oil-in-water emulsions were prepared by blending 50 wt % soybean oil and 50 wt % H-ESO-HEC aqueous suspensions. The influence of H-ESO-HEC concentrations on the properties of oil-in-water emulsions was examined. The H-ESO-HEC concentrations in the aqueous phase varied from 0.02 to 0.40 wt %. When the H-ESO-HEC concentration was 0.4 wt %, the emulsion remained stable for >80 days. The mean droplet sizes of the emulsions decreased by increasing the H-ESO-HEC concentration and extending the ultrasonic time. The adsorption amounts of H-ESO-HEC at the oil-water interface increased when the H-ESO-HEC concentrations in the aqueous phase increased. The rheological property revealed that the apparent viscosity of the H-ESO-HEC-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions increased when the H-ESO-HEC concentrations increased. Steady flow curves indicated an interfacial film formation in the emulsions. The evolution of G', G″, and tan η indicated the predominantly elastic behaviors of all the emulsions.

  17. Study of a three-phase flow metering process for oil-water-gas flows; Etude d`un procede de mesure des debits d`un ecoulement triphasique de type eau-huile-gaz

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boyer, Ch.

    1996-11-01

    We propose a theoretical and experimental study of a three-phase flow metering process for oil-water-gas flows. The selected process is based on a combination of a mixer, a Venturi and ultrasonic methods. To perform an experimental validation of this process an instrumented set-up for three-phase air-oil-water flows has been designed, conceived and adjusted. An original theoretical model have been built to predict three-phase dispersed flows across a contraction. Once validated with two-phase air-water, oil-water and air-oil-water flows data, this model has been used to solve the Venturi metering problems. After a critical review of the available techniques, the ultrasonic propagation velocity has been selected to determine two-phase liquid-liquid flow composition. Two original models have been developed to describe the ultrasonic propagation with the dispersed phase fraction. The comparison with experimental data in oil-water flows show the superiority of one of the two models, the scattering model. For the void fraction determination in air-water flows, the work of Bensler (1990) based on the ultrasonic attenuation measurement has been extended to take into account the multiple scattering effects. Finally these techniques have been combined to determine the different flow rates in air-water, oil-water flows. For two-phase air-water and oil-water flows the problem is solved and the flow rates are measured with a very good accuracy ({+-} 3%). The results quality obtained with three-phase oil-water-gas flows and the secure theoretical bases allowing their interpretation give us the opportunity to strongly recommend the development of an industrial prototype based on the process we studied. (author) 183 refs.

  18. Measurement and Modelling of Phase Equilibrium of Oil - Water - Polar Chemicals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frost, Michael Grynnerup

    in the temperature range of 303-323 K at atmospheric pressure. In the second part of this work, the CPA EoS has been used for modeling hydrocarbon systemcontaining polar chemicals, such as water and gas hydrate inhibitor MEG or methanol. All the experimental data measured in this work have been investigated using...... with the measurement of newexperimental data, but through the development of new experimental equipment for the study ofmulti-phase equilibrium. In addition to measurement of well-defined systems, LLE have beenmeasured for North Sea oils with MEG and water. The work can be split up into two parts: Experimental: VLE...... systems presented, confirming the quality of theequipment. The equipment is used for measurement of VLE for several systems of interest; methane+ water, methane + methanol, methane + methanol + water and methane + MEG. Details dealing with the design, assembling and testing of new experimental equipment...

  19. Active oil-water interfaces: buckling and deformation of oil drops by bacteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juarez, Gabriel; Stocker, Roman

    2014-11-01

    Bacteria are unicellular organisms that seek nutrients and energy for growth, division, and self-propulsion. Bacteria are also natural colloidal particles that attach and self-assemble at liquid-liquid interfaces. Here, we present experimental results on active oil-water interfaces that spontaneously form when bacteria accumulate or grow on the interface. Using phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy, we simultaneously observed the dynamics of adsorbed Alcanivorax bacteria and the oil-water interface within microfluidic devices. We find that, by growing and dividing, adsorbed bacteria form a jammed monolayer of cells that encapsulates the entire oil drop. As bacteria continue to grow at the interface, the drop buckles and the interface undergoes strong deformations. The bacteria act to stabilize non-equilibrium shapes of the oil-phase such wrinkling and tubulation. In addition to presenting a natural example of a living interface, these findings shape our understanding of microbial degradation of oil and may have important repercussions on engineering interventions for oil bioremediation.

  20. Separation kinetics of an oil-in-water emulsion under enhanced gravity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krebs, T.; Schroën, C.G.P.H.; Boom, R.M.

    2012-01-01

    The breakup of crude oil emulsions to produce clean oil and water phases is an important task in crude oil processing. We have investigated the demulsification kinetics of a model oil-in-water emulsion in a centrifugal field to mimic the forces acting on emulsion droplets in oil/water separators

  1. Releasing intracellular product to prepare whole cell biocatalyst for biosynthesis of Monascus pigments in water-edible oil two-phase system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Minglue; Zhang, Xuehong; Wang, Zhilong

    2016-11-01

    Selective releasing intracellular product in Triton X-100 micelle aqueous solution to prepare whole cell biocatalyst is a novel strategy for biosynthesis of Monascus pigments, in which cell suspension culture exhibits some advantages comparing with the corresponding growing cell submerged culture. In the present work, the nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 was successfully replaced by edible plant oils for releasing intracellular Monascus pigments. High concentration of Monascus pigments (with absorbance nearly 710 AU at 470 nm in the oil phase, normalized to the aqueous phase volume approximately 142 AU) was achieved by cell suspension culture in peanut oil-water two-phase system. Furthermore, the utilization of edible oil as extractant also fulfills the demand for application of Monascus pigments as natural food colorant.

  2. Influence of infiltrated water on the change of formation water and oil permeability of crude oil bearing rocks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cubric, S

    1970-09-01

    A brief desription is given of the causes of permeability reduction of oil-bearing rocks, due to well damage during the drilling and well completion or when working over wells. The physical properties of 2-phase flow (crude oil-water) and the possibility of increasing the existing permeability of the formation, because of the water infiltrated from the well into the crude oil layer, are described in detail. Field examples show that there are such cases, and that the artificially increased existing permeability of water-bearing rocks can be reduced and even brought to normal, if the adjacent formation zone layer is treated with surfactants (e.g., Hyflo dissolved in crude oil).

  3. Thermal characteristics of non-edible oils as phase change materials candidate to application of air conditioning chilled water system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irsyad, M.; Indartono, Y. S.; Suwono, A.; Pasek, A. D.

    2015-09-01

    The addition of phase change material in the secondary refrigerant has been able to reduce the energy consumption of air conditioning systems in chilled water system. This material has a high thermal density because its energy is stored as latent heat. Based on material melting and freezing point, there are several non-edible oils that can be studied as a phase change material candidate for the application of chilled water systems. Forests and plantations in Indonesia have great potential to produce non-edible oil derived from the seeds of the plant, such as; Calophyllum inophyllum, Jatropha curcas L, and Hevea braziliensis. Based on the melting temperature, these oils can further studied to be used as material mixing in the secondary refrigerant. Thermal characteristics are obtained from the testing of T-history, Differential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) and thermal conductivity materials. Test results showed an increase in the value of the latent heat when mixed with water with the addition of surfactant. Thermal characteristics of each material of the test results are shown completely in discussion section of this article.

  4. Attachment of composite porous supra-particles to air-water and oil-water interfaces: theory and experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paunov, Vesselin N; Al-Shehri, Hamza; Horozov, Tommy S

    2016-09-29

    We developed and tested a theoretical model for the attachment of fluid-infused porous supra-particles to a fluid-liquid interface. We considered the wetting behaviour of agglomerated clusters of particles, typical of powdered materials dispersed in a liquid, as well as of the adsorption of liquid-infused colloidosomes at the liquid-fluid interface. The free energy of attachment of a composite spherical porous supra-particle made from much smaller aggregated spherical particles to the oil-water interface was calculated. Two cases were considered: (i) a water-filled porous supra-particle adsorbed at the oil-water interface from the water phase, and, (ii) an oil-filled porous supra-particle adsorbed at the oil-water interface from the oil-phase. We derived equations relating the three-phase contact angle of the smaller "building block" particles and the contact angle of the liquid-infused porous supra-particles. The theory predicts that the porous supra-particle contact angle attached at the liquid interface strongly depends on the type of fluid infused in the particle pores and the fluid phase from which it approaches the liquid interface. We tested the theory by using millimetre-sized porous supra-particles fabricated by evaporation of droplets of polystyrene latex suspension on a pre-heated super-hydrophobic surface, followed by thermal annealing at the glass transition temperature. Such porous particles were initially infused with water or oil and approached to the oil-water interface from the infusing phase. The experiment showed that when attaching at the hexadecane-water interface, the porous supra-particles behaved as hydrophilic when they were pre-filled with water and hydrophobic when they were pre-filled with hexadecane. The results agree with the theoretically predicted contact angles for the porous composite supra-particles based on the values of the contact angles of their building block latex particles measured with the Gel Trapping Technique. The

  5. Quasi-Phase Diagrams at Air/Oil Interfaces and Bulk Oil Phases for Crystallization of Small-Molecular Semiconductors by Adjusting Gibbs Adsorption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Satoshi; Ohta, Takahisa; Urata, Ryota; Sato, Tetsuya; Takaishi, Kazuto; Uchiyama, Masanobu; Aoyama, Tetsuya; Kunitake, Masashi

    2017-09-12

    The temperature and concentration dependencies of the crystallization of two small-molecular semiconductors were clarified by constructing quasi-phase diagrams at air/oil interfaces and in bulk oil phases. A quinoidal quaterthiophene derivative with four alkyl chains (QQT(CN)4) in 1,1,2,2-tetrachroloethane (TCE) and a thienoacene derivative with two alkyl chains (C8-BTBT) in o-dichlorobenzene were used. The apparent crystal nucleation temperature (T n ) and dissolution temperature (T d ) of the molecules were determined based on optical microscopy examination in closed glass capillaries and open dishes during slow cooling and heating processes, respectively. T n and T d were considered estimates of the critical temperatures for nuclear formation and crystal growth, respectively. The T n values of QQT(CN)4 and C8-BTBT at the air/oil interfaces were higher than those in the bulk oil phases, whereas the T d values at the air/oil interfaces were almost the same as those in the bulk oil phases. These Gibbs adsorption phenomena were attributed to the solvophobic effect of the alkyl chain moieties. The temperature range between T n and T d corresponds to suitable supercooling conditions for ideal crystal growth based on the suppression of nucleation. The T n values at the water/oil and oil/glass interfaces did not shift compared with those of the bulk phases, indicating that adsorption did not occur at the hydrophilic interfaces. Promotion and inhibition of nuclear formation for crystal growth of the semiconductors were achieved at the air/oil and hydrophilic interfaces, respectively.

  6. Characterising Dynamic Instability in High Water-Cut Oil-Water Flows Using High-Resolution Microwave Sensor Signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Weixin; Jin, Ningde; Han, Yunfeng; Ma, Jing

    2018-06-01

    In the present study, multi-scale entropy algorithm was used to characterise the complex flow phenomena of turbulent droplets in high water-cut oil-water two-phase flow. First, we compared multi-scale weighted permutation entropy (MWPE), multi-scale approximate entropy (MAE), multi-scale sample entropy (MSE) and multi-scale complexity measure (MCM) for typical nonlinear systems. The results show that MWPE presents satisfied variability with scale and anti-noise ability. Accordingly, we conducted an experiment of vertical upward oil-water two-phase flow with high water-cut and collected the signals of a high-resolution microwave resonant sensor, based on which two indexes, the entropy rate and mean value of MWPE, were extracted. Besides, the effects of total flow rate and water-cut on these two indexes were analysed. Our researches show that MWPE is an effective method to uncover the dynamic instability of oil-water two-phase flow with high water-cut.

  7. Corrosion detection of carbon steel in water/oil two phases environment by electrochemical noise analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gusmano, G.; Montesperelli, G.; De Grandis, A.

    1998-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the electrochemical noise analysis to detect the onset of corrosion phenomena in a very high resistivity medium. Tests were carried out on carbon steel electrodes immersed in a water/mineral oil two phases environment with high concentration of CO 2 , different aqueous/organic phase ratio, sulphide content between 0 and 0.5 g/l and pH between 1 and 5. The evolution of corrosion phenomena were followed by collecting current and potential noise between three nominally identical electrodes. The noise data were analysed in the time and in the frequency domain. In spite of a great loss of sensitivity of the method with respect to tests performed in aqueous solution, the data indicate a good agreement between the standard deviations and the power level of power spectra density (PSD) of current and potential noise signals and corrosion rates by means of weight loss. The values of the PSD slope, indicate the form of corrosion. The effect of water/oil ratio, sulphide concentration and pH on the corrosion rate was determined. Finally two methods to increase the sensitivity of the electrochemical noise are proposed. (orig.)

  8. Food grade microemulsion systems: Sunflower oil/castor oil derivative-ethanol/water. Rheological and physicochemical analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mori Cortés, Noelia; Lorenzo, Gabriel; Califano, Alicia N

    2018-05-01

    Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable systems that have attracted considerable attention in the food industry as delivery systems for many hydrophobic nutrients. These spontaneous systems are highly dependent on ingredients and composition. In this work phase diagrams were constructed using two surfactants (Kolliphor RH40 and ELP), water, sunflower oil, and ethanol as cosurfactant, evaluating their physicochemical properties. Stability of the systems was studied at 25 and 60 °C, monitoring turbidity at 550 nm for over a month to identify the microemulsion region. Conductivity was measured to classify between water-in-oil and oil-in-water microemulsions. The phase diagram constructed with Kolliphor RH40 exhibited a larger microemulsion area than that formulated with Kolliphor ELP. All formulations showed a monomodal droplet size distribution with low polydispersity index (<0.30) and a mean droplet size below 20 nm. Systems with higher water content presented a Newtonian behavior; increasing the dispersed phase content produced a weak gel-like structure with pseudoplastic behavior under flow conditions that was satisfactorily modeled to obtain structural parameters. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Nano-and microstructure of air/oil/water interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McGillivray, D.; Mata, J.; White, J.; Zank, J.

    2009-01-01

    Full text: We report the creation of air/oil/water interfaces with variable thickness oil films, using polyisobutylen based (PIB) surfactants co-spread with long-chain paraffinic alkanes on clean water surfaces. The resultant stable oil layers are readily measurable with simple surface techniques, exhibit physical densities the same as expected for bulk oils, and are up to - 1 00 A thick above the water surface as determined using x-ray reflectometry. This provides a ready system for studying the competition of surfactants at the oil/water interface. Results from the competition of a non-ionic polyamide surfactant or an anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate with the PIB surfactant are reported. However, this smooth oil layer does not account for the total volume of spread oil, nor is the increase in thickness proportional to the film compression. Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) reveals surfactant and oil structures on the scale of 1 to 10μm at the interface. At low surface pressure (π m Nm-1) large, -10μm inhomogeneities are observed. Beyond a phase transition observed at ∼ 24 m Nm-1 a structure with a spongy appearance and a micron-scale texture develops. These structures have implications for understanding the microstructure at the oil/water interface in emulsions.

  10. Revisiting source identification, weathering models, and phase discrimination for Exxon Valdez oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Driskell, W.B.; Payne, J.R.; Shigenaka, G.

    2005-01-01

    A large chemistry data set for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and saturated hydrocarbon (SHC) contamination in sediment, water and tissue samples has emerged in the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. When the oil was fresh, source identification was a primary objective and fairly reliable. However, source identification became problematic as the oil weathered and its signatures changed. In response to concerns regarding when the impacted area will be clean again, this study focused on developing appropriate tools to confirm hydrocarbon source identifications and assess weathering in various matrices. Previous efforts that focused only on the whole or particulate-phase oil are not adequate to track dissolved-phase signal with low total PAH values. For that reason, a particulate signature index (PSI) and dissolved signature index (DSI) screening tool was developed in this study to discriminate between these 2 phases. The screening tool was used to measure the dissolved or water-soluble fraction of crude oil which occurs at much lower levels than the particulate phase, but which is more widely circulated and equally as important as the particulate oil phase. The discrimination methods can also identify normally-discarded, low total PAH samples which can increase the amount of usable data needed to model other effects of oil spills. 37 refs., 3 tabs., 10 figs

  11. Applying CFD in the analysis of heavy oil - water two-phase flow in joints by using core annular flow technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T Andrade

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In the oil industry the multiphase flow occur throughout the production chain, from reservoir rock until separation units through the production column, risers and pipelines. During the whole process the fluid flows through the horizontal pipes, curves, connections and T joints. Today, technological and economic challenges facing the oil industry is related to heavy oil transportation due to its unfavourable characteristics such as high viscosity and high density that provokes high pressure drop along the flow. The coreflow technique consists in the injection of small amounts of water into the pipe to form a ring of water between the oil and the wall of the pipe which provides the reduction of friction pressure drop along the flow. This paper aim to model and simulate the transient two-phase flow (water-heavy oil in a horizontal pipe and T joint by numerical simulation using the software ANSYS CFX® Release 12.0. Results of pressure and volumetric fraction distribution inside the horizontal pipe and T joint are presented and analysed.

  12. Experimental study of heavy oil-water flow structure effects on relative permeabilities in a fracture filled with heavy oil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shad, S.; Gates, I.D.; Maini, B.B. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering]|[Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In Situ Energy, Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    An experimental apparatus was used to investigate the flow of water in the presence of heavy oil within a smooth-walled fracture. Different flow patterns were investigated under a variety of flow conditions. Results of the experiments were used to determine the accuracy of VC, Corey, and Shad and Gates models designed to represent the behaviour of oil wet systems. The relative permeability concept was used to describe the behaviour of multiple phases flowing through porous media. A smooth-walled plexiglass Hele-Shaw cell was used to visualize oil and water flow. Changes in flow rates led to different flow regimes. The experiment demonstrated that water flowed co-currently in the form of droplets or slugs. Decreases in the oil flow rate enlarged the size of the water droplets as well as the velocity, until eventually the droplets coalesced and became water slugs. Droplet appearance or disappearance directly impacted the oil and water saturation levels. Changes in fluid saturation altered the pressure gradient. Darcy's law for the 2 liquid phases were used to calculate relative permeability curves. The study showed that at low water saturation, oil relative permeability reached as high as 2.5, while water relative permeability was lower than unity. In the presence of a continuous water channel, water drops formed in oil, and the velocity of the drops was lower than their velocity under a discontinuous water flow regime. It was concluded that the Shad and Gates model overestimated oil relative permeability and underestimated water relative permeability. 38 refs., 2 tabs., 9 figs.

  13. Onset of entrainment and degree of dispersion in dual continuous horizontal oil-water flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Wahaibi, Talal [Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 33, Al-Khoud, P.C. 123 (Oman); Angeli, Panagiota [Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE (United Kingdom)

    2009-04-15

    The transition from stratified to dual continuous oil-water flow (where each phase retains its continuity but there is dispersion of one phase into the other) as well as the dispersed phase fractions in the layers of the dual continuous pattern, were studied experimentally. Transition to this pattern from stratified flow occurs when drops of one phase appear into the other (onset of entrainment). The studies were carried out in a 38 mm ID horizontal stainless steel test section using two different inlet geometries, a T- and a Y-junction. The patterns were visualized through a transparent acrylic section located at 7 m from the inlet using a high speed video camera. Phase distribution measurements in a pipe cross section were obtained just before the acrylic section with a local impedance probe and the results were used to calculate the volume fraction of each phase entrained into the other. The onset of entrainment was found to occur at lower superficial water velocities as the oil superficial velocities increased. However, the inlet geometry did not affect significantly the transition line. During dual continuous flow, the dispersion of one phase into the opposite was found to extend further away from the interface with increasing water superficial velocity for a certain oil superficial velocity. An increase in the superficial water velocity increased the entrained fraction of water in oil (E{sub w/o}) but there was no trend with the oil velocity. Similarly, an increase in the superficial oil velocity increased the fraction of oil drops in water (E{sub o/w}) but the water velocity had no clear effect. The entrainment fractions were affected by the inlet geometry, with the T-inlet resulting in higher entrainment than the Y-inlet, perhaps because of the increased mixing induced by the T-inlet. The difference between the two inlets increased as the oil and water velocities increased. (author)

  14. Effect of Water Cut on Pressure Drop of Oil (D130) -Water Flow in 4″Horizontal Pipe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basha, Mehaboob; Shaahid, S. M.; Al-Hems, Luai M.

    2018-03-01

    The oil-water flow in pipes is a challenging subject that is rich in physics and practical applications. It is often encountered in many oil and chemical industries. The pressure gradient of two phase flow is still subject of immense research. The present study reports pressure measurements of oil (D130)-water flow in a horizontal 4″ diameter stainless steel pipe at different flow conditions. Experiments were carried out for different water cuts (WC); 0-100%. Inlet oil-water flow rates were varied from 4000 to 8000 barrels-per-day in steps of 2000. It has been found that the frictional pressure drop decreases for WC = 0 - 40 %. With further increase in WC, friction pressure drop increases, this could be due to phase inversion.

  15. Preconditioning methods to improve SAGD performance in heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs with variable oil phase viscosity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gates, I.D. [Gushor Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering; Larter, S.R.; Adams, J.J.; Snowdon, L.; Jiang, C. [Gushor Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Calgary Univ., Calgary, AB (Canada). Dept. of Geoscience

    2008-10-15

    This study investigated preconditioning techniques for altering reservoir fluid properties prior to steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) recovery processes. Viscosity-reducing agents were distributed in mobile reservoir water. Simulations were conducted to demonstrate the method's ability to modify oil viscosity prior to steam injection. The study simulated the action of water soluble organic solvents that preferentially partitioned in the oil phase. The solvent was injected with water into the reservoir in a slow waterflood that did not displace oil from the near wellbore region. A reservoir simulation model was used to investigate the technique. Shu's correlation was used to establish a viscosity correlation for the bitumen and solvent mixtures. Solvent injection was modelled by converting the oil phase viscosity through time. Over the first 2 years, oil rates of the preconditioned case were double that of the non-preconditioned case study. However, after 11 years, the preconditioned case's rates declined below rates observed in the non-preconditioned case. The model demonstrated that oil viscosity distributions were significantly altered using the preconditioners. The majority of the most viscous oil surrounding the production well was significantly reduced. It was concluded that accelerated steam chamber growth provided faster access to lower viscosity materials at the top of the reservoir. 12 refs., 9 figs.

  16. Real time EM waves monitoring system for oil industry three phase flow measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Hajeri, S; Wylie, S R; Shaw, A; Al-Shamma'a, A I

    2009-01-01

    Monitoring fluid flow in a dynamic pipeline is a significant problem in the oil industry. In order to manage oil field wells efficiently, the oil industry requires accurate on line sensors to monitor the oil, gas, and water flow in the production pipelines. This paper describes a non-intrusive sensor that is based on an EM Waves cavity resonator. It determines and monitors the percentage volumes of each phase of three phase (oil, gas, and water) in the pipeline, using the resonant frequencies shifts that occur within an electromagnetic cavity resonator. A laboratory prototype version of the sensor system was constructed, and the experimental results were compared to the simulation results which were obtained by the use of High Frequency Structure Simulation (HFSS) software package.

  17. Experimental Study on Characteristics of Oil Particle Distribution in Water-Gelled Crude Oil Two-Phase Flow System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Xiaoyan

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The conventional gathering and transportation mode of heating the produced fluid of oil wells with hot water or steam may result in excessive energy consumption. In order to perform the unheated transportation, the idea of hydraulic suspension transport of the gelled crude oil is proposed based on the actual production of Daqing Oilfield, and the experimental system is established to test characteristics of oil particle distribution which have an important effect on the hydraulic suspension transportation. In the experiment, the image of gelled crude oil particle distribution was obtained in a horizontal pipe with inner diameter of 0.053 m, and then the law of particle distribution was investigated by the theoretical model. The results showed that the gelled crude oil hydraulic suspension transport could be achieved without any chemical reagent when the gelled crude oil was transformed into particles and dispersedly suspended in water. The results also showed that the gelled oil particles of 0–4 mm in size accounted for 92% or more of all particles, and the percentage of gelled crude oil particles of a size of 4 mm gradually increased with the increasing mixed flow rate.

  18. Numerical Study of Water Control with Downhole Oil-Water Separation Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yin Khor Yin

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The maturing oil fields with increasing water production can pose a challenging produced water handling and disposal issues. This paper presents a numerical study of a motorless hydrocyclone to enhance understanding of the downhole oil-water separation. The turbulence of fluid flow is obtained using K-ε Realizable Turbulence model for complex swirl dominated flow, while the interface between hydrocarbon and water is described using the Discrete Phase model. In this approach, factors which contribute to the hydrocyclone separation instability were discussed. Discussion is then extended to the relationship of residence time with pressure difference between overflow and underflow. These pressure differences are able to relate to pressure condition for high water cut well which require downhole separation.

  19. Treatment technologies of liquid and solid wastes from two-phase olive oil mills

    OpenAIRE

    Borja Padilla, Rafael; Raposo Bejines, Francisco; Rincón, Bárbara

    2006-01-01

    Over the last 10 years the manufacture of olive oil has undergone important evolutionary changes in the equipment used for the separation of olive oil from the remaining components. The latest development has been the introduction of a two-phase centrifugation process in which a horizontally-mounted centrifuge is used for a primary separation of the olive oil fraction from the vegetable solid material and vegetation water. Therefore, the new two-phase olive oil mills produce three ident...

  20. Treatment technologies of liquid and solid wastes from two-phase olive oil mills

    OpenAIRE

    Rincón, Bárbara; Raposo, Francisco; Borja, Rafael

    2006-01-01

    Over the last 10 years the manufacture of olive oil has undergone important evolutionary changes in the equipment used for the separation of olive oil from the remaining components. The latest development has been the introduction of a two-phase centrifugation process in which a horizontally-mounted centrifuge is used for a primary separation of the olive oil fraction from the vegetable solid material and vegetation water. Therefore, the new two-phase olive oil mills produce three identifiabl...

  1. Technology needs for the later phases of an oil spill. Volume 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goodman, R.

    2007-01-01

    The phases of an oil spill response can be classified as initial response, project phase, end phase and the monitoring phase. The initial on-water phase of the response or shoreline cleanup includes the development of contingency planning, stockpiling of equipment and research into response equipment for removing oil on water. Lack of planning for a response can lead to an initial response that has less than satisfactory results. An initial assessment of the oil spill response begins at the moment the spill occurs and continues for days, depending on the quality of the initial response. This phase includes the use of booms, skimmers, dispersants and in-situ burning. It was emphasized that oil spill research should focus on gathering scientific information needed to make decisions during the project phase and beyond. Typically, this will involve the study of long-term impacts and should be undertaken in a research environment in order to apply new data to any spill scenario. This paper highlighted knowledge needs to support decisions in the cleanup phase. The Exxon Valdez incident provided information on the long-term impacts of a variety of cleanup techniques. This paper also addressed damage assessment and restoration issues along with the decision to terminate a response. Once a response has been terminated, long-term monitoring of the ecosystem begins in order to identify the spill impact. 9 refs., 6 figs

  2. A simplified approach for the simulation of water-in-oil emulsions in gravity separators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lakehal, D.; Narayanan, C. [ASCOMP GmbH, Zurich (Switzerland); Vilagines, R.; Akhras, A.R. [Saudi Aramco, Dhahran (Saudi Arabia). Research and Development Center

    2009-07-01

    A new method of simulating 3-phase flow separation processes in a crude oil product was presented. The aim of the study was to increase the liquid capacity of the vessels and develop methods of testing variable flow entry procedures. The simulated system was based on gravity separation. Oil well streams were injected into large tanks where gas, oil and water were separated under the action of inertia and gravity. An interface tracking technique was combined with a Euler-Euler model developed as part of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program. Emulsion physics were modelled by interface tracking between the gas and oil-in-water liquid mixture. Additional scalar transport equations were solved in order to account for the diffusive process between the oil and water. Various settling velocity models were used to consider the settling of the dispersed water phase in oil. Changes in viscosity and non-Newtonian emulsion behaviour were also considered. The study showed that the interface tracking technique accurately predicted flow when combined with an emulsion model designed to account for the settling of water in the oil phase. Further research is now being conducted to validate computational results against in situ measurements. 13 refs., 1 tab., 8 figs.

  3. Cross-well 4-D resistivity tomography localizes the oil-water encroachment front during water flooding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, J.; Revil, A.

    2015-04-01

    The early detection of the oil-water encroachment front is of prime interest during the water flooding of an oil reservoir to maximize the production of oil and to avoid the oil-water encroachment front to come too close to production wells. We propose a new 4-D inversion approach based on the Gauss-Newton approach to invert cross-well resistance data. The goal of this study is to image the position of the oil-water encroachment front in a heterogeneous clayey sand reservoir. This approach is based on explicitly connecting the change of resistivity to the petrophysical properties controlling the position of the front (porosity and permeability) and to the saturation of the water phase through a petrophysical resistivity model accounting for bulk and surface conductivity contributions and saturation. The distributions of the permeability and porosity are also inverted using the time-lapse resistivity data in order to better reconstruct the position of the oil water encroachment front. In our synthetic test case, we get a better position of the front with the by-products of porosity and permeability inferences near the flow trajectory and close to the wells. The numerical simulations show that the position of the front is recovered well but the distribution of the recovered porosity and permeability is only fair. A comparison with a commercial code based on a classical Gauss-Newton approach with no information provided by the two-phase flow model fails to recover the position of the front. The new approach could be used for the time-lapse monitoring of various processes in both geothermal fields and oil and gas reservoirs using a combination of geophysical methods.

  4. Modeling and Analysis of Magnetic Nanoparticles Injection in Water-Oil Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media under Magnetic Field Effect

    KAUST Repository

    El-Amin, Mohamed; Saad, Adel; Salama, Amgad; Sun, Shuyu

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, the magnetic nanoparticles are injected into a water-oil, two-phase system under the influence of an external permanent magnetic field. We lay down the mathematical model and provide a set of numerical exercises of hypothetical cases to show how an external magnetic field can influence the transport of nanoparticles in the proposed two-phase system in porous media. We treat the water-nanoparticles suspension as a miscible mixture, whereas it is immiscible with the oil phase. The magnetization properties, the density, and the viscosity of the ferrofluids are obtained based on mixture theory relationships. In the mathematical model, the phase pressure contains additional term to account for the extra pressures due to fluid magnetization effect and the magnetostrictive effect. As a proof of concept, the proposed model is applied on a countercurrent imbibition flow system in which both the displacing and the displaced fluids move in opposite directions. Physical variables, including waternanoparticles suspension saturation, nanoparticles concentration, and pore wall/throat concentrations of deposited nanoparticles, are investigated under the influence of the magnetic field. Two different locations of the magnet are studied numerically, and variations in permeability and porosity are considered.

  5. Modeling and Analysis of Magnetic Nanoparticles Injection in Water-Oil Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media under Magnetic Field Effect

    KAUST Repository

    El-Amin, Mohamed

    2017-08-28

    In this paper, the magnetic nanoparticles are injected into a water-oil, two-phase system under the influence of an external permanent magnetic field. We lay down the mathematical model and provide a set of numerical exercises of hypothetical cases to show how an external magnetic field can influence the transport of nanoparticles in the proposed two-phase system in porous media. We treat the water-nanoparticles suspension as a miscible mixture, whereas it is immiscible with the oil phase. The magnetization properties, the density, and the viscosity of the ferrofluids are obtained based on mixture theory relationships. In the mathematical model, the phase pressure contains additional term to account for the extra pressures due to fluid magnetization effect and the magnetostrictive effect. As a proof of concept, the proposed model is applied on a countercurrent imbibition flow system in which both the displacing and the displaced fluids move in opposite directions. Physical variables, including waternanoparticles suspension saturation, nanoparticles concentration, and pore wall/throat concentrations of deposited nanoparticles, are investigated under the influence of the magnetic field. Two different locations of the magnet are studied numerically, and variations in permeability and porosity are considered.

  6. Organically modified clay removes oil from water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alther, G.R.

    1995-01-01

    When bentonite or other clays and zeolite are modified with quaternary amines, they become organophilic. Such modified bentonites are used to remove mechanically emulsified oil and grease, and other sparingly soluble organics. Types of oil found in water can include fats, lubricants, cutting fluids, heavy hydrocarbons such as tars, grease, crude oil, diesel oils; and light hydrocarbons such as kerosene, jet fuel, and gasoline. If the organoclay is granulated, it is placed into a liquid phase carbon filter vessel to remove FOGs (Free Oil and Grease) and chlorinated hydrocarbons. In this application the clay is mixed with anthrazite to prevent early plugging of the filter by oil or grease droplets. In batch systems a powdered organoclay is employed. Organoclay removes mechanically emulsified oil and grease at 5--7 times the rate of activated carbon, or 50% of its dry weight. Oil and grease and other large sparingly soluble chlorinated hydrocarbons and NOMs (Natural Organic Matter) blind the pores of activated carbon (and ion-exchange resins), reducing its effectiveness significantly. It is therefore economically advantageous for the end user to prepolish the water before it enters carbon vessels. Operating costs can often be reduced by 50% or more

  7. Distribution coefficients for chemical components of a coal-oil/water system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Picel, K C; Stamoudis, V C; Simmons, M S

    1988-09-01

    Distribution coefficients (K/sub D/) were measured by equilibrating a coal oil comparative reference material (CRM-1) with water and then separating the oil and water phases. Aqueous phase concentrations were determined by direct analysis of this phase, while organic phase concentrations were determined from the original oil composition by difference. The log K/sub D/ values obtained for acidic and basic components were generally <3, while those for the neutral components ranged from 3 to 6. For aromatic hydrocarbons, strong correlations were observed between log K/sub D/ and log S/sub w/ (water solubility), and between log K/sub D/ and log K/sub o//sub w/ (octanol/water partition coefficient). Alkylated benzenes had significantly higher K/sub D/s than did unsubstituted aromatics of similar molecular weight. Examination of homologs revealed an increase of 0.307 log K/sub D/ units per additional carbon atom for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons having from 10 to 16 carbons. Alkyl substituent effects determined for various sets of homologs ranged from 0.391 to 0.466 log K/sub d/ units per -CH/sub 2/- group added. 38 refs., 5 figs., 7 tabs.

  8. Infrared Spectroscopy of Bilberry Extract Water-in-Oil Emulsions: Sensing the Water-Oil Interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johannes Kiefer

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Water-in-oil (w/o emulsions are of great interest in many areas of the life sciences, including food technology, bioprocess engineering, and pharmaceuticals. Such emulsions are complex multi-component systems and the molecular mechanisms which lead to a stable emulsion are yet to be fully understood. In this work, attenuated total reflection (ATR infrared (IR spectroscopy is applied to a series of w/o emulsions of an aqueous anthocyanin-rich bilberry extract dispersed in a medium chain triglyceride (MCT oil phase. The content of the emulsifier polyglycerin-polyricinoleat (PGPR has been varied systematically in order to investigate whether or not its concentration has an impact on the molecular stabilization mechanisms. The molecular stabilization is accessed by a careful analysis of the IR spectrum, where changes in the vibrational frequencies and signal strengths indicate alterations of the molecular environment at the water/oil interface. The results suggest that adding emulsifier in excess of 1% by weight does not lead to an enhanced stabilization of the emulsion.

  9. Organically modified clay removes oil from water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alther, G.R.

    1995-01-01

    When bentonite or other clays and zeolites are modified with quaternary amines, they become organophilic. Such modified bentonites are used to remove mechanically emulsified oil and grease, and other sparingly soluble organics. If the organoclay is granulated, it is placed into a liquid phase carbon filter vessel to remove FOG's and chlorinated hydrocarbons. In this application the clay is mixed with anthrazite to prevent early plugging of the filter by oil or grease droplets. In batch systems a powered organoclay is employed. Types of oil found in water can include fats, lubricants, cutting fluids, heavy hydrocarbons such as tars, grease, crude oil, diesel oils; and light hydrocarbons such as kerosene, jet fuel, and gasoline

  10. Characterization of water-in-oil emulsions produced with microporous hollow polypropylene fibers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HELMAR SCHUBERT

    2000-11-01

    Full Text Available The preparation of fine and monodispersed water-in-oil (W/O emulsions by utilizing hydrophobic hollow polypropylene fibers with 0.4 mm pores was investigated in this work. The experiments were carried out using demineralized water as the disperse phase, mineral oil Velocite No. 3 as the continuous phase, and polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR 90 in the concentration range of 2.5 – 10 wt % as the oil-soluble emulsifier. The size of the water droplets in the prepared emulsions and the droplet size distribution strongly depend on the content of the disperse phase, the transmembrane pressure difference, and the emulsifier concentration. Stable emulsions with a very narrow droplet size distribution and a mean droplet diameter lower than 0.27 µm were produced using 10 wt % PGPR 90 at a pressure difference below 30 kPa.

  11. Feasibility evaluation of downhole oil/water separator (DOWS) technology.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veil, J. A.; Langhus, B. G.; Belieu, S.

    1999-01-31

    transferred to operators, particularly to small or medium-sized independent U.S. companies. One of the missions of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Petroleum Technology Office (NPTO) is to assess the feasibility of promising oil and gas technologies that offer improved operating performance, reduced operating costs, or greater environmental protection. To further this mission, the NPTO provided funding to a partnership of three organizations a DOE national laboratory (Argonne National Laboratory), a private-sector consulting firm (CH2M-Hill), and a state government agency (Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission) to assess the feasibility of DOWS. The purpose of this report is to provide general information to the industry on DOWS by describing the existing uses of simultaneous injection, summarizing the regulatory implications of simultaneous injection, and assessing the potential future uses of the technology. Chapter 2 provides a more detailed description of the two major types of DOWS. Chapter 3 summarizes the existing U.S. and Canadian installations of DOWS equipment, to the extent that operators have been willing to share their data. Data are provided on the location and geology of existing installations, production information before and after installation of the DOWS, and costs. Chapter 4 provides an overview of DOWS-specific regulatory requirements imposed by some state agencies and discusses the regulatory implications of handling produced water downhole, rather than pumping it to the surface and reinjecting it. Findings and conclusions are presented in Chapter 5 and a list of the references cited in the report is provided in Chapter 6. Appendix A presents detailed data on DOWS installations. This report presents the findings of Phase 1 of the simultaneous injection project, the feasibility assessment. Another activity of the Phase 1 investigation is to design a study plan for Phase 2 of the project, field pilot studies. The Phase 2

  12. Experimental study on immiscible jet breakup using refractive index matched oil-water pair

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Xinzhi; Katz, Joseph

    2016-11-01

    A subsea oil well blowout creates an immiscible crude oil jet. This jet fragments shortly after injection, resulting in generation of a droplet cloud. Detailed understanding of the processes involved is crucial for modeling the fragmentation and for predicting the droplet size distribution. High density of opaque droplets near nozzle limits our ability to visualize and quantify the breakup process. To overcome this challenge, two immiscible fluids: silicone oil and sugar water with the same index of refraction (1.4015) are used as surrogates for crude oil and seawater, respectively. Their ratios of kinematic viscosity (5.64), density (0.83) and interfacial tension are closely matched with those of crude oil and seawater. Distribution of the oil phase is visualized by fluorescent tagging. Both phases are also seeded with particles for simultaneous PIV measurements. The measurements are performed within atomization range of Ohnesorge and Reynolds numbers. Index matching facilitates undistorted view of the phase distribution in illuminated section. Ongoing tests show that the jet surface initially rolls up into Kelvin-Helmholtz rings, followed by development of dispersed phase ligaments further downstream, which then break into droplets. Some of these droplets are re-entrained into the high momentum core, resulting in secondary breakup. As the oil layer and ligaments evolve, they often entrain water, resulting in generation of multiple secondary water droplets encapsulated within the oil droplets. This research is made possible by a Grant from Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.

  13. Phase behavior and formation of o/w nano-emulsion in vegetable oil/ mixture of polyglycerol polyricinoleate and polyglycerin fatty acid ester/water systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wakisaka, Satoshi; Nakanishi, Masami; Gohtani, Shoichi

    2014-01-01

    It is reported that mixing polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) and polyglycerol laurilester has a great emulsifying capacity, and consequently fine oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions can be formed. However, the role of PGPR is not clear. The objective of this research is to investigate the phase behavior of vegetable oil/mixture of PGPR and polyglycerol fatty acid ester/water systems, and to clarify the role of PGPR in making a fine emulsion. Phase diagrams were constructed to elucidate the optimal process for preparing fine emulsions. In all the systems examined in this study, the phases, including the liquid crystal phase (L(c)) and sponge phase (L(3)), spread widely in the phase diagrams. We examined droplet size of the emulsions prepared from each phase and found that o/w nano-emulsions with droplet sizes as small as 50 nm were formed by emulsifying either from a single L(3) phase or a two-phase region, L(c) + L(3). These results indicate that a sponge phase L(3) or liquid crystal phase L(c) or both is necessary to form an o/w nano-emulsion whose average droplet diameter is less than 50 nm for PGPR and polyglycerin fatty acid ester mixtures used as surfactant.

  14. In-Line Oil-Water Separation in Swirling Flow (USB stick)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slot, J.J.; van Campen, L.J.A.M.; Hoeijmakers, Hendrik Willem Marie; Mudde, R.F.; Johansen, S.T.

    2011-01-01

    An in-line oil-water separator has been designed and is investigated for single- and two-phase flow. Numerical single-phase flow results show an annular reversed flow region. This flow pattern agrees qualitatively with results from measurements. In the two-phase flow simulations two different drag

  15. Antifouling Cellulose Hybrid Biomembrane for Effective Oil/Water Separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kollarigowda, Ravichandran H; Abraham, Sinoj; Montemagno, Carlo D

    2017-09-06

    Oil/water separation has been of great interest worldwide because of the increasingly serious environmental pollution caused by the abundant discharge of industrial wastewater, oil spill accidents, and odors. Here, we describe simple and economical superhydrophobic hybrid membranes for effective oil/water separation. Eco-friendly, antifouling membranes were fabricated for oil/water separation, waste particle filtration, the blocking of thiol-based odor materials, etc., by using a cellulose membrane (CM) filter. The CM was modified from its original superhydrophilic nature into a superhydrophobic surface via a reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer technique. The block copolymer poly{[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl acrylate]-block-myrcene} was synthesized using a "grafting-from" approach on the CM. The surface contact angle that we obtained was >160°, and absorption tests of several organic contaminants (oils and solvents) exhibited superior levels of extractive activity and excellent reusability. These properties rendered this membrane a promising surface for oil/water separation. Interestingly, myrcene blocks thiol (through "-ene-" chemistry) contaminants, thereby bestowing a pleasant odor to polluted water by acting as an antifouling material. We exploited the structural properties of cellulose networks and simple chemical manipulations to fabricate an original material that proved to be effective in separating water from organic and nano/microparticulate contaminants. These characteristics allowed our material to effectively separate water from oily/particulate phases as well as embed antifouling materials for water purification, thus making it an appropriate absorber for chemical processes and environmental protection.

  16. A Fast Algorithm to Simulate Droplet Motions in Oil/Water Two Phase Flow

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tao

    2017-06-09

    To improve the research methods in petroleum industry, we develop a fast algorithm to simulate droplet motions in oil and water two phase flow, using phase field model to describe the phase distribution in the flow process. An efficient partial difference equation solver—Shift-Matrix method is applied here, to speed up the calculation coding in high-level language, i.e. Matlab and R. An analytical solution of order parameter is derived, to define the initial condition of phase distribution. The upwind scheme is applied in our algorithm, to make it energy decay stable, which results in the fast speed of calculation. To make it more clear and understandable, we provide the specific code for forming the coefficient matrix used in Shift-Matrix Method. Our algorithm is compared with other methods in different scales, including Front Tracking and VOSET method in macroscopic and LBM method using RK model in mesoscopic scale. In addition, we compare the result of droplet motion under gravity using our algorithm with the empirical formula common used in industry. The result proves the high efficiency and robustness of our algorithm and it’s then used to simulate the motions of multiple droplets under gravity and cross-direction forces, which is more practical in industry and can be extended to wider application.

  17. The vulnerability of oil collection pipelines to corrosion under conditions of stratified oil-water emulsion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marichev, F N; Chernobay, L A; Teterina, O P; Yarmizin, V G

    1980-01-01

    Problems with oil industry equipment and pipeline corrosion have recently highlighted the problems of increased water content in oil and the presence of biogenic hydrogen sulphide in petroleum matter. These findings underscore the importance of taking these problems into consideration when formulating long-term production plans. A study of pipeline corrosion and its causes, as well as other factors, has permitted researchers to correlate hydrodynamic parameters for gas-fluid transportability and structural contour flows. The water phase simultaneously carries corrosion-active ions of dissolved hydrogen sulphide and material which interact to corrode metal in the lower sections of pipelines. In order to determine the susceptibility of pipelines to corrosion, it is necessary to establish the presence of stratified fluids in oil and water as well as the gas-fluid flow. Analysis has shown that those sections with stratified emulsion could be identified and that it is necessary to disclose the pipeline's ability to withstand such conditions. The proper selection of transport parameters permits the technological protection of the oil collection pipelines. Partially as a result of the increased flow speed guaranteeing an emulsion flow regime for the gas-water-oil flow, it was found that the operational service-life of pipelines could be prolonged by a reduction of corrosion in oil collection pipelines.

  18. Effect of capillary number on the oil recovery using oil-water emulsion injection in core flooding experiments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guillen Nunez, Victor Raul; Carvalho, Marcio da Silveira [Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), RJ (Brazil). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering], E-mail: msn@puc-rio.br; Basante, Vladimir Alvarado [University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Chemical/Petroleum Engineering], E-mail: valvard@uwyo.edu

    2010-07-01

    The Water injection flooding is a common method to improve reservoir sweep and pressure maintenance. The heavy-oil-recovery efficiency is in part limited by the high water-to-oil mobility ratio. Several enhanced oil recovery methods are being developed as more efficient alternatives to water flooding. Dispersion injection, in particular oil-water emulsion injection, has been tried with relative success as an enhanced oil recovery method, but the technique is not fully developed or understood. If emulsion injection proves to be an effective EOR method, its use would bring the added benefit of disposing produced water with small oil content that could be modified to serve as the injected oil-water emulsion. The use of such methods requires a detailed analysis of the different flow regimes of emulsions through the porous space of a reservoir rock. If the drop size of the disperse phase is of the same order of magnitude as the pore size, the drops may agglomerate and partially block water flow through pores. This flow regime may be used to control the mobility of the injected liquid, leading to higher recovery factor. We have shown in recent experiments of oil displacement in a sandstone core that, the oil recovery factor could be raised from approximately 40 %, obtained with water injection only, up to approximately 75 % by alternating water and emulsion injection. Although these results clearly show the improvement in the recovery factor, the mechanisms responsible for the phenomenon have not been clearly elucidated. In this work, two sandstone cores were used to demonstrate the effect of flow rate (capillary number) on the mobility control by emulsion injection. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the experiment set-up. The experiments show that raising the flow rate by a factor of 10 (0.03 ml/min to 0.3 ml/min), the oil recovered factor decreases considerably. (author)

  19. Applying CFD in the Analysis of Heavy Oil/Water Separation Process via Hydrocyclone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K Angelim

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent years most of the oil reserves discovered has been related to heavy oil reservoirs whose reserves are abundant but still show operational difficulties. This fact provoked great interest of the petroleum companies in developing new technologies for increasing the heavy oil production. Produced water generation, effluent recovered from the production wells together with oil and natural gas, is among the greatest potential factors for environmental degradation. Thus, a new scenario of the oil industry appears requiring improvement in treatment units for produced water. Among the technological improvements in the facilities, the use of hydrocyclones has been applied in the treatment of the oily water. In this sense, this study aims to investigate numerically the separation process of heavy oil from a water stream via hydrocyclone, using the computational fluid dynamics technique. In the mathematical modeling was considered a two-phase, three-dimensional, stationary, isothermal and turbulent flow. Results of streamlines, pressure and volume fraction fields of the involved phases (oil and water into the hydrocyclone, and mechanical efficiency and pumping power of the fluids are shown and analyzed. In conclusion, it seems that with increasing fluid input velocity in the device there is an increase in pressure drop, indicating a greater pumping energy consumption of the mixture, and greatly influences the separation process efficiency.

  20. Entropy Production in Pipeline Flow of Dispersions of Water in Oil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rajinder Pal

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Entropy production in pipeline adiabatic flow of water-in-oil emulsions is investigated experimentally in three different diameter pipes. The dispersed-phase (water droplets concentration of emulsion is varied from 0 to 41% vol. The entropy production rates in emulsion flow are compared with the values expected in single-phase flow of Newtonian fluids with the same properties (viscosity and density. While in the laminar regime the entropy production rates in emulsion flow can be described adequately by the single-phase Newtonian equations, a significant deviation from single-phase flow behavior is observed in the turbulent regime. In the turbulent regime, the entropy production rates in emulsion flow are found to be substantially smaller than those expected on the basis of single-phase equations. For example, the entropy production rate in water-in-oil emulsion flow at a dispersed-phase volume fraction of 0.41 is only 38.4% of that observed in flow of a single-phase Newtonian fluid with the same viscosity and density, when comparison is made at a Reynolds number of 4000. Thus emulsion flow in pipelines is more efficient thermodynamically than single-phase Newtonian flow.

  1. The method of purification of waste water of NPS from petroleum oil using UV-radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kulemin, V.V.; Kareta, V.I.

    1993-01-01

    The main methods of concentration and purification of radioactive waste water of russian NPS are distillation and ion exchange. When waste water containing petroleum oil and washing matter is distillated, part of petroleum and washing matters go to the condensate. The purification of this condensate leads to pollution of ion exchange resins by petroleum oil and reduction of the filter cycle number. The purification of condensate of Russian NPS from petroleum oil is carried out using active carbon and polymer filters, but this process is not effective and fails to give pure condensate. Therefore, the authors began to search for more effective methods of purification of waste water from petroleum oil. They found that UV-radiation makes it possible to purify water from petroleum matter to concentration of the organic phase less than 0.5 mg/dm3. In this process of purification the air, contained in the water phase, was used as an oxidant. When purification is carried out in the absence of sorbents, the quantity of radioactive solid waste, which have to be recovered, decreases. During the study of purification of waste water it was found that increasing of the temperature of the process increases the rate of UV-radiation-induced oxidation of organic phase. The increase in the initial concentration of petroleum products also increases the rate of petroleum oil decomposition. The content of ions in water phase decreases the purification rate. The investigations were carried out on the laboratory scale with water and condensate from Tver's NPS

  2. The capability of radial basis function to forecast the volume fractions of the annular three-phase flow of gas-oil-water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roshani, G H; Karami, A; Salehizadeh, A; Nazemi, E

    2017-11-01

    The problem of how to precisely measure the volume fractions of oil-gas-water mixtures in a pipeline remains as one of the main challenges in the petroleum industry. This paper reports the capability of Radial Basis Function (RBF) in forecasting the volume fractions in a gas-oil-water multiphase system. Indeed, in the present research, the volume fractions in the annular three-phase flow are measured based on a dual energy metering system including the 152 Eu and 137 Cs and one NaI detector, and then modeled by a RBF model. Since the summation of volume fractions are constant (equal to 100%), therefore it is enough for the RBF model to forecast only two volume fractions. In this investigation, three RBF models are employed. The first model is used to forecast the oil and water volume fractions. The next one is utilized to forecast the water and gas volume fractions, and the last one to forecast the gas and oil volume fractions. In the next stage, the numerical data obtained from MCNP-X code must be introduced to the RBF models. Then, the average errors of these three models are calculated and compared. The model which has the least error is picked up as the best predictive model. Based on the results, the best RBF model, forecasts the oil and water volume fractions with the mean relative error of less than 0.5%, which indicates that the RBF model introduced in this study ensures an effective enough mechanism to forecast the results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Identification of 3-phase flow patterns of heavy oil from pressure drop and flow rate data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pacheco, F.; Bannwart, A.C.; Mendes, J.R.P. [Campinas State Univ., Sao Paulo (Brazil); Serapiao, A.B.S. [Sao Paulo State Univ., Sao Paulo (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    Pipe flow of oil-gas-water mixtures poses a complex thermo-fluid dynamical problem. This paper examined the relationship between phase flow rates, flow pattern identification, and pressure drop in 3-phase water-assisted heavy oil in the presence of a gaseous phase. An artificial intelligence program called a support vector machine (SVM) was used to determine relevant parameters for flow pattern classification. Data from a 3-phase flow of heavy oil with gas and water in a vertical pipe was used in the study. The data were used to train the machine, which then predicted the flow pattern of the remaining data. Tests with different parameters and training data were then performed. The study showed that the proposed SVM flow pattern identification process accurately predicted flow patterns. It was concluded that the SVM took a relatively short amount of time to train. Future research is needed to apply the tool to larger flow datasets. 5 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.

  4. Oil-water flows in wells with powerful fracture reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ivanov, N.P.

    1979-01-01

    The character of two phase liquid flows from powerful layer fractures to bottom holes in Starogrodnen and Malgobek-Voznesenskiy fields in the Chechen-Ingush ASSR found in the late stage of operation. The studies were done with the electrothermometer TEG-36, the manometer MGN-2, the remote control thermal flow meter T-4, the remote control moisture meter VBST-1, the density meter GGP-1M, whose accuracy class is 1.0 and whose working limits are: temperature, up to 150/sup 0/C and pressure, up to 1000 kGs/cm/sup 2/. The breakdown of the linear filtration law and the gravitational division of the water-oil mixture phase occurred during fieldwork. The oil and water, etc., flow intervals were defined. The data from the moisture meter and the gamma density meter coincided.

  5. Chemical Analysis of a "Miller-Type" Complex Prebiotic Broth. Part II: Gas, Oil, Water and the Oil/Water-Interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherer, Sabrina; Wollrab, Eva; Codutti, Luca; Carlomagno, Teresa; da Costa, Stefan Gomes; Volkmer, Andreas; Bronja, Amela; Schmitz, Oliver J.; Ott, Albrecht

    2017-12-01

    We have analyzed the chemical variety obtained by Miller-Urey-type experiments using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy, gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and two-dimensional gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry (GCxGC/MS). In the course of a running Miller-Urey-type experiment, a hydrophobic organic layer emerged besides the hydrophilic aqueous phase and the gaseous phase that were initially present. The gas phase mainly consisted of aromatic compounds and molecules containing C≡ C or C≡ N triple bonds. The hydrophilic phase contained at least a few thousands of different molecules, primarily distributed in a range of 50 and 500 Da. The hydrophobic phase is characterized by carbon-rich, oil-like compounds and their amphiphilic derivatives containing oxygen with tensioactive properties. The presence of a wide range of oxidized molecules hints to the availability of oxygen radicals. We suggest that they intervene in the formation of alkylated polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the oil/water interface. CARS spectroscopy revealed distinct vibrational molecular signatures. In particular, characteristic spectral bands for cyanide compounds were observed if the broth was prepared with electric discharges in the gaseous phase. The characteristic spectral bands were absent if discharges were released onto the water surface. NMR spectroscopy on the same set of samples independently confirmed the observation. In addition, NMR spectroscopy revealed overall high chemical variability that suggests strong non-linearities due to interdependent, sequential reaction steps.

  6. Chemical Analysis of a "Miller-Type" Complex Prebiotic Broth : Part II: Gas, Oil, Water and the Oil/Water-Interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherer, Sabrina; Wollrab, Eva; Codutti, Luca; Carlomagno, Teresa; da Costa, Stefan Gomes; Volkmer, Andreas; Bronja, Amela; Schmitz, Oliver J; Ott, Albrecht

    2017-12-01

    We have analyzed the chemical variety obtained by Miller-Urey-type experiments using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy, gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and two-dimensional gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry (GCxGC/MS). In the course of a running Miller-Urey-type experiment, a hydrophobic organic layer emerged besides the hydrophilic aqueous phase and the gaseous phase that were initially present. The gas phase mainly consisted of aromatic compounds and molecules containing C≡C or C≡N triple bonds. The hydrophilic phase contained at least a few thousands of different molecules, primarily distributed in a range of 50 and 500 Da. The hydrophobic phase is characterized by carbon-rich, oil-like compounds and their amphiphilic derivatives containing oxygen with tensioactive properties. The presence of a wide range of oxidized molecules hints to the availability of oxygen radicals. We suggest that they intervene in the formation of alkylated polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the oil/water interface. CARS spectroscopy revealed distinct vibrational molecular signatures. In particular, characteristic spectral bands for cyanide compounds were observed if the broth was prepared with electric discharges in the gaseous phase. The characteristic spectral bands were absent if discharges were released onto the water surface. NMR spectroscopy on the same set of samples independently confirmed the observation. In addition, NMR spectroscopy revealed overall high chemical variability that suggests strong non-linearities due to interdependent, sequential reaction steps.

  7. Phase Behaviour Study of Swiftlet Nest Using Virgin Coconut Oil with Non-Ionic Surfactants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siti Salwa Abd Gani; Siti Zulaika Adisah; Siti Salwa Abd Gani

    2015-01-01

    Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is the oil that obtained from fresh and mature kernel of the coconut by mechanical or natural means with or without the application of heat, which does not lead to alteration of the nature of the oil. It have advantages such as strengthens the immune system because of its lauric acid content. It also has medium-chain fatty acids which heighten metabolism and energy, thus stimulating the thyroid. Swiftlet nest as an active ingredient need to be dispersed in a carrier system. Thus, ternary phase diagrams were constructed to find the suitable and stable system for it. The phase behavior of systems has been investigated by constructing ternary phase diagrams consisting of non-ionic surfactants/VCO:bird nest/water. The surfactants used were Sorbitan tri-oleate (Span 85), Sorbitan mono-oleate (Span 80), Sorbitan monolaurate (Span 20), Polyoxyethylene(20) sorbitan tri-oleate (Tween 85) and Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan mono-oleate (Tween 80). These systems include several phase regions such as homogeneous, isotropic, two-phase and three-phase regions. Different hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) value of non-ionic surfactants exhibit different ternary diagram characteristics. A lower HLB shows a more oil-soluble and a more water-soluble surfactant (larger homogeneous and isotropic region in ternary phase diagrams) whereas high value of HLB shows the reverse of that result. The results show that the T85/VCO:bird nest/water system gave better performance than the other four individual surfactant systems. As a conclusion, high hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) values of surfactant were found to be a good surfactant for the formulation of VCO:bird nest emulsion for cosmetic and pharmaceutical purposes. (author)

  8. A High Resolution Capacitive Sensing System for the Measurement of Water Content in Crude Oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aslam, Muhammad Zubair; Tang, Tong Boon

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the design of a non-intrusive system to measure ultra-low water content in crude oil. The system is based on a capacitance to phase angle conversion method. Water content is measured with a capacitance sensor comprising two semi-cylindrical electrodes mounted on the outer side of a glass tube. The presence of water induces a capacitance change that in turn converts into a phase angle, with respect to a main oscillator. A differential sensing technique is adopted not only to ensure high immunity against temperature variation and background noise, but also to eliminate phase jitter and amplitude variation of the main oscillator that could destabilize the output. The complete capacitive sensing system was implemented in hardware and experiment results using crude oil samples demonstrated that a resolution of ±50 ppm of water content in crude oil was achieved by the proposed design. PMID:24967606

  9. A High Resolution Capacitive Sensing System for the Measurement of Water Content in Crude Oil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Zubair Aslam

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the design of a non-intrusive system to measure ultra-low water content in crude oil. The system is based on a capacitance to phase angle conversion method. Water content is measured with a capacitance sensor comprising two semi-cylindrical electrodes mounted on the outer side of a glass tube. The presence of water induces a capacitance change that in turn converts into a phase angle, with respect to a main oscillator. A differential sensing technique is adopted not only to ensure high immunity against temperature variation and background noise, but also to eliminate phase jitter and amplitude variation of the main oscillator that could destabilize the output. The complete capacitive sensing system was implemented in hardware and experiment results using crude oil samples demonstrated that a resolution of ±50 ppm of water content in crude oil was achieved by the proposed design.

  10. Different Diversity and Distribution of Archaeal Community in the Aqueous and Oil Phases of Production Fluid From High-Temperature Petroleum Reservoirs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Liang

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available To get a better knowledge on how archaeal communities differ between the oil and aqueous phases and whether environmental factors promote substantial differences on microbial distributions among production wells, we analyzed archaeal communities in oil and aqueous phases from four high-temperature petroleum reservoirs (55–65°C by using 16S rRNA gene based 454 pyrosequencing. Obvious dissimilarity of the archaeal composition between aqueous and oil phases in each independent production wells was observed, especially in production wells with higher water cut, and diversity in the oil phase was much higher than that in the corresponding aqueous phase. Statistical analysis further showed that archaeal communities in oil phases from different petroleum reservoirs tended to be more similar, but those in aqueous phases were the opposite. In the high-temperature ecosystems, temperature as an environmental factor could have significantly affected archaeal distribution, and archaeal diversity raised with the increase of temperature (p < 0.05. Our results suggest that to get a comprehensive understanding of petroleum reservoirs microbial information both in aqueous and oil phases should be taken into consideration. The microscopic habitats of oil phase, technically the dispersed minuscule water droplets in the oil could be a better habitat that containing the indigenous microorganisms.

  11. Interactions of fines with base fractions of oil and its implication in smart water flooding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chakravarty, Krishna Hara; Fosbøl, Philip Loldrup; Thomsen, Kaj

    2015-01-01

    Migration of fines, and formation of oil emulsion have been independently observed during smart water flooding both have been suggested to play a vital role in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). But, the exact role of fines and the reason of emulsion formation are not well studied for carbonate...... reservoirs. This study shows that addition of water and crude oil on calcite fines leads to formation of soluble oil emulsions in the water phase. Formation of these emulsions and its implication in EOR has been experimentally analyzed....

  12. Effects of phase transformation of steam-water relative permeabilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Verma, A.K.

    1986-03-01

    A combined theoretical and experimental study of steam-water relative permeabilities (RPs) was carried out. First, an experimental study of two-phase concurrent flow of steam and water was conducted and a set of RP curves was obtained. These curves were compared with semi-empirical and experimental results obtained by other investigators for two-phase, two-component flow (oil/gas; gas/water; gas/oil). It was found that while the wetting phase RPs were in good agreement, RPs for the steam phase were considerably higher than the non-wetting phase RPs in two-component systems. This enhancement of steam RP is attributed to phase transformation effects at the pore level in flow channels. The effects of phase transformation were studied theoretically. This study indicates that there are two separate mechanisms by which phase transformation affects RP curves: (1) Phase transformation is converging-diverging flow channels can cause an enhancement of steam phase RP. In a channel dominated by steam a fraction of the flowing steam condenses upstream from the constriction, depositing its latent heat of condensation. This heat is conducted through the solid grains around the pore throat, and evaporation takes place downstream from it. Therefore, for a given bulk flow quality; a smaller fraction of steam actually flows through the throat segments. This pore-level effect manifests itself as relative permeability enhancement on a macroscopic level; and (2) phase transformation along the interface of a stagnant phase and the phase flowing around it controls the irreducible phase saturation. Therefore, the irreducible phase saturation in steam-water flow will depend, among other factors, on the boundary conditions of the flow.

  13. Gelation of Oil upon Contact with Water: A Bioinspired Scheme for the Self-Repair of Oil Leaks from Underwater Tubes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Hyuntaek; Yaraghi, Nicholas; Raghavan, Srinivasa R

    2015-05-19

    Molecular organogelators convert oils into gels by forming self-assembled fibrous networks. Here, we demonstrate that such gelation can be activated by contacting the oil with an immiscible solvent (water). Our gelator is dibenzylidene sorbitol (DBS), which forms a low-viscosity sol when added to toluene containing a small amount of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Upon contact with water, DMSO partitions into the water, activating gelation of DBS in the toluene. The gel grows from the oil/water interface and slowly envelops the oil phase. We have exploited this effect for the self-repair of oil leaks from underwater tubes. When a DBS/toluene/DMSO solution flows through the tube, it forms a gel selectively at the leak point, thereby plugging the leak and restoring flow. Our approach is reminiscent of wound-sealing via blood-clotting: there also, inactive gelators in blood are activated at the wound site into a fibrous network, thereby plugging the wound and restoring blood flow.

  14. Water issues associated with heavy oil production.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Veil, J. A.; Quinn, J. J.; Environmental Science Division

    2008-11-28

    Crude oil occurs in many different forms throughout the world. An important characteristic of crude oil that affects the ease with which it can be produced is its density and viscosity. Lighter crude oil typically can be produced more easily and at lower cost than heavier crude oil. Historically, much of the nation's oil supply came from domestic or international light or medium crude oil sources. California's extensive heavy oil production for more than a century is a notable exception. Oil and gas companies are actively looking toward heavier crude oil sources to help meet demands and to take advantage of large heavy oil reserves located in North and South America. Heavy oil includes very viscous oil resources like those found in some fields in California and Venezuela, oil shale, and tar sands (called oil sands in Canada). These are described in more detail in the next chapter. Water is integrally associated with conventional oil production. Produced water is the largest byproduct associated with oil production. The cost of managing large volumes of produced water is an important component of the overall cost of producing oil. Most mature oil fields rely on injected water to maintain formation pressure during production. The processes involved with heavy oil production often require external water supplies for steam generation, washing, and other steps. While some heavy oil processes generate produced water, others generate different types of industrial wastewater. Management and disposition of the wastewater presents challenges and costs for the operators. This report describes water requirements relating to heavy oil production and potential sources for that water. The report also describes how water is used and the resulting water quality impacts associated with heavy oil production.

  15. Impact of recharge through residual oil upon sampling of underlying ground water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wise, W.R.; Chang, Chichung; Klopp, R.A.; Bedient, P.B.

    1991-01-01

    At an aviation gasoline spill site in Traverse City, Michigan, historical records indicate a positive correlation between significant rainfall events and increased concentrations of slightly soluble organic compounds in the monitoring wells of the site. To investigate the recharge effect on ground water quality due to infiltrating water percolating past residual oil and into the saturated zone, an in situ infiltration experiment was performed at the site. Sampling cones were set at various depths below a circular test area, 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter. Rainfall was simulated by sprinkling the test area at a rate sufficiently low to prevent runoff. The sampling cones for soil-gas and ground water quality were installed in the unsaturated and saturated zones to observed the effects of the recharge process. Infiltrated water was determined to have transported organic constituents of the residual oil, specifically benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and ortho-xylene (BTEX), into the ground water beneath the water table, elevating the aqueous concentrations of these constituents in the saturated zone. Soil-gas concentrations of the organic compounds in the unsaturated zone increased with depth and time after the commencement of infiltration. Reaeration of the unconfined aquifer via the infiltrated water was observed. It is concluded that water quality measurements are directly coupled to recharge events for the sandy type of aquifer with an overlying oil phase, which was studied in this work. Ground water sampling strategies and data analysis need to reflect the effect of recharge from precipitation on shallow, unconfined aquifers where an oil phase may be present

  16. Transition from Spherical to Irregular Dispersed Phase in Water/Oil Emulsions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schmitt, M.; Limage, S.; Grigoriev, D.O.; Krägel, J.; Dutschk, Victoria; Vincent-Bonnieu, S.; Miller, R.; Antoni, M.

    2014-01-01

    Bulk properties of transparent and dilute water in paraffin oil emulsions stabilized with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) are analyzed by optical scanning tomography. Each scanning shot of the considered emulsions has a precision of 1 mu m. The influence of aluminum oxide nanoparticles in the structure

  17. Removal of oil from water by bentonite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moazed, H.; Viraraghavan, T.

    1999-01-01

    Many materials, included activated carbon, peat, coal, fiberglass, polypropylene, organoclay and bentonite have been used for removing oils and grease from water. However, bentonite has been used only rarely for this purpose. In this study Na-bentonite was used to remove oil from oil-in-water emulsions of various kinds such as standard mineral oil, cutting oils, refinery effluent and produced water from production wells at Estevan, Saskatchewan. Removal efficiencies obtained were 85 to 96 per cent for cutting oils, 84 to 86 per cent for produced water and 54 to 87 per cent for refinery effluent. Bentonite proved to be more effective in the removal of oil from oil-in-water emulsions than from actual waste waters; up to 96 percent from oil-in-water emulsions to only 87 per cent from actual waste water. The percentage of oil removed was found to be a function of the amount of bentonite added and the adsorption time up to the equilibrium time. Result also showed that the Langmuir, Freundlich and BET isotherms are well suited to describe the adsorption of oil by bentonite from the various oily waters employed in this study. 15 refs

  18. Immobilizing Water into Crystal Lattice of Calcium Sulfate for its Separation from Water-in-Oil Emulsion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Guangming; Li, Junxi; Nie, Yunliang; Zhang, Sen; Dong, Fan; Guan, Baohong; Lv, Xiaoshu

    2016-07-19

    This work report a facile approach to efficiently separate surfactant-stabilized water (droplet diameter of around 2.0 μm) from water-in-oil emulsion via converting liquid water into solid crystal water followed by removal with centrifugation. The liquid-solid conversion is achieved through the solid-to-solid phase transition of calcium sulfate hemihydrate (CaSO4. 0.5H2O, HH) to dihydrate (CaSO4·2H2O, DH), which could immobilize the water into crystal lattice of DH. For emulsion of 10 mg mL(-1) water, the immobilization-separation process using polycrystalline HH nanoellipsoids could remove 95.87 wt % water at room temperature. The separation efficiency can be further improved to 99.85 wt % by optimizing the HH dosage, temperature, HH size and crystalline structure. Property examination of the recycled oil confirms that our method has neglectable side-effect on oil quality. The byproduct DH was recycled to alpha-HH (a valuable cemetitious material widely used in construction and binding field), which minimizes the risk of secondary pollution and promotes the practicality of our method. With the high separation efficiency, the "green" feature and the recyclability of DH byproduct, the HH-based immobilization-separation approach is highly promising in purifying oil with undesired water contamination.

  19. The Alberta dilemma: optimal sharing of a water resource by an agricultural and an oil sector

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gaudet, G.; Moreaux, M.; Withagen, C.A.A.M.

    2006-01-01

    We fully characterize the optimal time paths of production and water usage by an agricultural and an oil sector that share a limited water resource. We show that for any given water stock, if the oil stock is sufficiently large, it will become optimal to have a phase during which the agricultural

  20. Transport and Phase Equilibria Properties for Steam Flooding of Heavy Oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gabitto, Jorge; Barrufet, Maria

    2002-11-20

    The objectives of this research included experimental determination and rigorous modeling and computation of phase equilibrium diagrams, volumetric, and transport properties of hydrocarbon/CO2/water mixtures at pressures and temperatures typical of steam injection processes for thermal recovery of heavy oils.

  1. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR by Miscible CO2 and Water Flooding of Asphaltenic and Non-Asphaltenic Oils

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edwin A. Chukwudeme

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available An EOR study has been performed applying miscible CO2 flooding and compared with that for water flooding. Three different oils are used, reference oil (n-decane, model oil (n-C10, SA, toluene and 0.35 wt % asphaltene and crude oil (10 wt % asphaltene obtained from the Middle East. Stearic acid (SA is added representing a natural surfactant in oil. For the non-asphaltenic oil, miscible CO2 flooding is shown to be more favourable than that by water. However, it is interesting to see that for first years after the start of the injection (< 3 years it is shown that there is almost no difference between the recovered oils by water and CO2, after which (> 3 years oil recovery by gas injection showed a significant increase. This may be due to the enhanced performance at the increased reservoir pressure during the first period. Maximum oil recovery is shown by miscible CO2 flooding of asphaltenic oil at combined temperatures and pressures of 50 °C/90 bar and 70 °C/120 bar (no significant difference between the two cases, about 1% compared to 80 °C/140 bar. This may support the positive influence of the high combined temperatures and pressures for the miscible CO2 flooding; however beyond a certain limit the oil recovery declined due to increased asphaltene deposition. Another interesting finding in this work is that for single phase oil, an almost linear relationship is observed between the pressure drop and the asphaltene deposition regardless of the flowing fluid pressure.

  2. Phase behavior and phase inversion for dispersant systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Solheim, A.; Brandvik, P.J.

    1991-06-01

    This report describes some preliminary phase behavior studies and phase inversion temperature measurements in seawater, bunker oil and dispersant. The objectives have been to find new ways of characterizing dispersants for dispersing oil spill at sea and, perhaps, to throw new lights on the mechanism of dispersion formation (oil-in-water emulsification). The work has been focussed on the relation to phase behavior and the existence of microemulsion in equilibrium with excess oil and water phases. The dispersing process is also compared to the recommended conditions for emulsion formation. When forming an oil-in-water emulsion in an industrial process, it is recommended to choose an emulsifier which gives a phase inversion temperature (PIT) which is 20 - 60 o C higher than the actual temperature for use. The emulsification process must take place close to the PIT which is the temperature at which the emulsion change from oil-in-water emulsion to water-in-oil emulsion when the system is stirred. This condition corresponds to the temperature where the phase behavior change character. The purpose has been to find out if the composition of the dispersants corresponds to the recommendations for oil-in-water emulsification. The amount of experimental work has been limited. Two kinds of experiments have been carried out. Phase behavior studies have been done for seawater, bunker oil and four different dispersants where one had an optimal composition. The phase behavior was hard to interpret and is not recommended for standard dispersants test. The other experimental technique was PIT-measurements by conductivity measurements versus temperature. 4 figs., 1 tab., 4 refs

  3. Soil water repellency at old crude oil spill sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, J.L.

    1999-08-01

    This thesis presents the current state of knowledge regarding the cause of soil water repellency and characterizes disaggregated nonwettable surface soils found at old crude oil spill sites. Pollution-induced water repellency generally develops following prolonged exposures of soil to liquid- or vapour-phase petroleum hydrocarbons. The condition varies significantly in terms of severity and persistence. Soil water repellency retards plant growth and disturbs the hydrological balance of ecosystems. Disaggregated water-repellent soils are also very susceptible to dispersal by erosion, posing a threat to the productivity of surrounding soils. The author described the probable causes of soil water repellency under the following three main themes: (1) accumulation of hydrophobic organic material in soil, (2) redistribution and re-organisation of this material in soil, and (3) stabilisation of the hydrophobic organic material. This final process is necessary to ensure persistence of induced water repellency symptoms. Petroleum residues as water-repellent substances in weathered nonwettable oil-contaminated soils were also discussed and a hypothesis about soil water repellency was presented which deals with flexible conformation in organic matter coatings. Processes leading to the development of soil water repellency following crude oil contamination were also described. It was determined that soil water repellency is a function of the packing density and the chain conformation of amphiphilic organic molecules in the outermost layer of soil organic matter coatings. This research suggests that the fractional coverage of alkyl chains on soil particle surfaces determines the degree of water repellency that is displayed by soil. It was shown that prompt remediation of some oil-contaminated plots can effectively prevent the development of soil water repellency. 4 refs., 32 tabs., 22 figs., 5 appendices

  4. Monitoring, characterization and comparison. Operation-project of oil and oil water systems in platforms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    P Junior, Oswaldo A.; Louvisse, Ana M.T.; Ramalho, Joao B.V.S.; Miragaya, Jose C.G.

    2000-01-01

    During the process of petroleum production, water are also commonly produced. Usually, a standard oil-water separation process will not lead to water phase ready to be discharged - the present legislation requires oily contents (oil and/or greases) bellow 20 mg/L concentration level value. Thus, secondary treatment is required to bring such oily concentration to the allowed level or lower, prior to the water discard in the environment. This paper describes the adopted systematic work in the Campos Basin Petroleum Production Platforms, which has allowed to evaluate and optimize the water treatment performed in there. Such description includes the typical water treatment systems installed, the typical physical-chemistry of the effluents and also presents comparisons between the basic designs that guided such systems construction and their present operational conditions and set-ups. The analysis of such results has allowed the introduction of minor modifications leading to the process optimization. The common use of Pilot Plants in such optimization process is also described and their contribution reported. (author)

  5. Influence of surfactants on gas-hydrate formation' kinetics in water-oil emulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zemenkov, Yu D.; Shirshova, A. V.; Arinstein, E. A.; Shuvaev, A. N.

    2018-05-01

    The kinetics of gas hydrate formation of propane in a water-oil emulsion is experimentally studied when three types of surfactants (SAA (surface acting agent)) - anionic type emulsifiers - are added to the aqueous phase. It is shown that all three types of surfactants decelerate the growth of the gas-hydrate in the emulsion and can be considered as anti-agglutinating and kinetic low-dose inhibitors. The most effective inhibitor of hydrate formation in water-oil emulsion of SV-102 surfactant was revealed. For comparison, experimental studies of gas-hydrate formation under the same conditions for bulk water have been carried out. It is shown that in bulk water, all the surfactants investigated act as promoters (accelerators) of hydrate formation. A qualitative explanation of the action mechanisms of emulsifiers in the process of gas-hydrate formation in water-oil emulsion is given.

  6. Robust and durable superhydrophobic cotton fabrics for oil/water separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Zhaozhu; Xu, Xianghui; Guo, Fang; Zhu, Xiaotao; Men, Xuehu; Ge, Bo

    2013-08-14

    By introducing the incorporation of polyaniline and fluorinated alkyl silane to the cotton fabric via a facile vapor phase deposition process, the fabric surface possessed superhydrophobicity with the water contact angle of 156° and superoleophilicity with the oil contact angle of 0°. The as-prepared fabric can be applied as effective materials for the separation of water and oil mixture with separation efficiency as high as 97.8%. Compared with other materials for oil/water separation, the reported process was simple, time-saving, and repeatable for at least 30 times. Moreover, the obtained fabric kept stable superhydrophobicity and high separation efficiency under extreme environment conditions of high temperature, high humidity, strong acidic or alkaline solutions, and mechanical forces. Therefore, this reported fabric has the advantages of scalable fabrication, high separation efficiency, stable recyclability, and excellent durability, exhibiting the strong potential for industrial production.

  7. Predicting for thermodynamic instabilities in water/oil/surfactant microemulsions: A mesoscopic modelling approach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Duvail, Magali, E-mail: magali.duvail@icsm.fr; Zemb, Thomas; Dufrêche, Jean-François [Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (ICSM), UMR 5257, CEA-CNRS-Université Montpellier 2-ENSCM, Site de Marcoule, Bâtiment 426, BP 17171, F-30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze Cedex (France); Arleth, Lise [Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C (Denmark)

    2014-04-28

    The thermodynamics and structural properties of flexible and rigid nonionic water/oil/surfactant microemulsions have been investigated using a two level-cut Gaussian random field method based on the Helfrich formalism. Ternary stability diagrams and scattering spectra have been calculated for different surfactant rigidities and spontaneous curvatures. A more important contribution of the Gaussian elastic constants compared to the bending one is observed on the ternary stability diagrams. Furthermore, influence of the spontaneous curvature of the surfactant points out a displacement of the instability domains which corresponds to the difference between the spontaneous and effective curvatures. We enlighten that a continuous transition from a connected water in oil droplets to a frustrated locally lamellar (oil in water in oil droplets) microstructure is found to occur when increasing the temperature for an oil-rich microemulsion. This continuous transition translated in a shift in the scattering functions, points out that the phase inversion phenomenon occurs by a coalescence of the water droplets.

  8. Increased antioxidant efficacy of tocopherols by surfactant solubilization in oil-in-water emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiralan, S Sezer; Doğu-Baykut, Esra; Kittipongpittaya, Ketinun; McClements, David Julian; Decker, Eric A

    2014-10-29

    The physical location of antioxidants in oil-in-water emulsions can have significant influence on their free radical scavenging activity and ability to inhibit lipid oxidation. We aimed to determine the effect of the surfactant concentration on the partitioning behavior of tocopherols (α, γ, and δ) in oil-in-water emulsions. Tween 20 (0.1, 0.5, and 1%) increased the partitioning of the tocopherols into the aqueous phase via the formation of Tween 20-tocopherol comicelles. Partitioning behavior of antioxidants was dependent upon the number of methyl groups and, thus, polarity of the tocopherols. δ-Tocopherol (one methyl group) exhibited the most partitioning into the aqueous phase, while α-tocopherol (three methyl groups) had the lowest partitioning. Lipid oxidation studies showed that the antioxidant activity of δ- and α-tocopherols was enhanced by adding Tween 20 to oil-in-water emulsions. This work suggests that surfactant micelles could increase the antioxidant activity of tocopherols by changing their physical location.

  9. Ferrofluid-in-oil two-phase flow patterns in a flow-focusing microchannel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheu, T. S.; Chen, Y. T.; Lih, F. L.; Miao, J. M.

    This study investigates the two-phase flow formation process of water-based Fe3O4 ferrofluid (dispersed phase) in a silicon oil (continuous phase) flow in the microfluidic flow-focusing microchannel under various operational conditions. With transparent PDMS chip and optical microscope, four main two-phase flow patterns as droplet flow, slug flow, ring flow and churn flow are observed. The droplet shape, size, and formation mechanism were also investigated under different Ca numbers and intended to find out the empirical relations. The paper marks an original flow pattern map of the ferrofluid-in-oil flows in the microfluidic flow-focusing microchannels. The flow pattern transiting from droplet flow to slug flow appears for an operational conditions of QR < 1 and Lf / W < 1. The power law index that related Lf / W to QR was 0.36 in present device.

  10. Evaluating oil/water separators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murdoch, M.A.

    1993-01-01

    Four commercially available oil/water separators were tested at an oil refinery test facility. The separators were the Alfa-Laval OFPX 413 disk-stack centrifuge, the Conoco Vortoil hydrocyclone system, International Separation Technology's Intr-Septor 250, and a modified Flo Trend gravity separator. Each machine was tested against mixtures of salt water and crude oil, and mixtures of salt water and a water-in-oil emulsion. The impact on separator performance from simulated sea motion, and from the addition of emulsion breakers and debris to the influent, were also evaluated. The test equipment, instrumentation, analysis facilities, test plans, and procedures to conduct the tests are described, but test results are not reported. Recommendations for improved test procedures are included. The inability to accurately monitor flow rates was found to have the greatest negative impact on test performance and results. Aspects of the test program that worked well included the use of flexible and semi-rigid hoses for customizing the test setups, the use of modular and leased tanks, and the sea motion simulator swing table design. 3 refs., 2 tabs

  11. 40 CFR 63.686 - Standards: Oil-water and organic-water separators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 10 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Standards: Oil-water and organic-water... Operations § 63.686 Standards: Oil-water and organic-water separators. (a) The provisions of this section apply to the control of air emissions from oil-water separators and organic-water separators for which...

  12. On-demand oil-water separation via low-voltage wettability switching of core-shell structures on copper substrates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kung, Chun Haow; Zahiri, Beniamin; Sow, Pradeep Kumar; Mérida, Walter

    2018-06-01

    A copper mesh with dendritic copper-oxide core-shell structure is prepared using an additive-free electrochemical deposition strategy for on-demand oil-water separation. Electrochemical manipulation of the oxidation state of the copper oxide shell phase results in opposite affinities towards water and oil. The copper mesh can be tuned to manifest both superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties to enable oil-removal. Conversely, switching to superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic allows water-removal. These changes correspond to the application of small reduction voltages (air drying. In the oil-removal mode, heavy oil selectively passes through the mesh while water is retained; in water-removal mode, the mesh allows water to permeate but blocks light oil. The smart membrane achieved separation efficiencies higher than 98% for a series of oil-water mixtures. The separation efficiency remains high with less than 5% variation after 30 cycles of oil-water separation in both modes. The switchable wetting mechanism is demonstrated with the aid of microstructural and electrochemical analysis and based on the well-known Cassie-Baxter and Wenzel theories. The selective removal of water or oil from the oil-water mixtures is driven solely by gravity and yields high efficiency and recyclability. The potential applications for the relevant technologies include oil spills cleanup, fuel purification, and wastewater treatment.

  13. Effect of surfactant and surfactant blends on pseudoternary phase diagram behavior of newly synthesized palm kernel oil esters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahdi ES

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Elrashid Saleh Mahdi1, Mohamed HF Sakeena1, Muthanna F Abdulkarim1, Ghassan Z Abdullah1,3, Munavvar Abdul Sattar2, Azmin Mohd Noor11Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, 2Department of Physiology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Penang, Malaysia; 3Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaBackground: The purpose of this study was to select appropriate surfactants or blends of surfactants to study the ternary phase diagram behavior of newly introduced palm kernel oil esters.Methods: Nonionic surfactant blends of Tween® and Tween®/Span® series were screened based on their solubilization capacity with water for palm kernel oil esters. Tween® 80 and five blends of Tween® 80/Span® 80 and Tween® 80/Span® 85 in the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB value range of 10.7–14.0 were selected to study the phase diagram behavior of palm kernel oil esters using the water titration method at room temperature.Results: High solubilization capacity was obtained by Tween® 80 compared with other surfactants of Tween® series. High HLB blends of Tween® 80/Span® 85 and Tween® 80/Span® 80 at HLB 13.7 and 13.9, respectively, have better solubilization capacity compared with the lower HLB values of Tween® 80/Span® 80. All the selected blends of surfactants were formed as water-in-oil microemulsions, and other dispersion systems varied in size and geometrical layout in the triangles. The high solubilization capacity and larger areas of the water-in-oil microemulsion systems were due to the structural similarity between the lipophilic tail of Tween® 80 and the oleyl group of the palm kernel oil esters.Conclusion: This study suggests that the phase diagram behavior of palm kernel oil esters, water, and nonionic surfactants is not only affected by the HLB value, but also by the structural similarity between palm kernel oil esters and the surfactant

  14. Lipid oxidation in base algae oil and water-in-algae oil emulsion: Impact of natural antioxidants and emulsifiers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Bingcan; Rao, Jiajia; Ding, Yangping; McClements, David Julian; Decker, Eric Andrew

    2016-07-01

    The impact of natural hydrophilic antioxidants, metal chelators, and hydrophilic antioxidant/metal chelator mixture on the oxidative stability of base algae oil and water-in-algae oil emulsion was investigated. The results showed that green tea extract and ascorbic acid had greatest protective effect against algae oil oxidation and generated four day lag phase, whereas rosmarinic acid, grape seed extract, grape seed extract polymer, deferoxamine (DFO), and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) had no significant protective effect. Besides, there was no synergistic effect observed between natural antioxidants and ascorbic acid. The emulsifiers are critical to the physicochemical stability of water-in-algae oil emulsions. Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) promoted the oxidation of emulsion. Conversely, the protective effect on algae oil oxidation was appreciated when defatted soybean lecithin (PC 75) or defatted lyso-lecithin (Lyso-PC) was added. The role of hydrophilic antioxidants in emulsion was similar to that in algae oil except EDTA which demonstrated strong antioxidative effect in emulsion. The results could provide information to build up stable food products containing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Influence of main process variables on the treatment of waste waters using a new technology Mixer-Settler based on Phase Inversion (MSPI)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moraes, N.A.; Paulo, J.B.A.; Medeiros, G.S. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Quimica], e-mail: norberto@eq.ufrn.br

    2011-04-15

    The prototype of a device on a semi-industrial scale to treat wastewaters from the oil industry has been widely studied as a viable alternative to conventional equipment. The device, called Mixer-Settler based on Phase Inversion (MSPI), uses the phase inversion method as operating principle. Using experimental planning (2{sup 4} factorial with four repetitions in the central point), it was determined the influence of the main variables on the oil/water separation process for waters containing between 30 and 100 mg of oil per liter of water. The following variables were evaluated: specific throughput, organic/aqueous phase ratio, agitation in the mixing chamber, and coconut oil concentration. The response variable was the oil/water separation efficiency. The results show that the separation efficiency of the device is a function of the effective throughput and the organic/aqueous phase ratio. (author)

  16. Two-stage preparation of magnetic sorbent based on exfoliated graphite with ferrite phases for sorption of oil and liquid hydrocarbons from the water surface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlova, Julia A.; Ivanov, Andrei V.; Maksimova, Natalia V.; Pokholok, Konstantin V.; Vasiliev, Alexander V.; Malakho, Artem P.; Avdeev, Victor V.

    2018-05-01

    Due to the macropore structure and the hydrophobic properties, exfoliated graphite (EG) is considered as a perspective sorbent for oil and liquid hydrocarbons from the water surface. However, there is the problem of EG collection from the water surface. One of the solutions is the modification of EG by a magnetic compound and the collection of EG with sorbed oil using the magnetic field. In this work, the method of the two-stage preparation of exfoliated graphite with ferrite phases is proposed. This method includes the impregnation of expandable graphite in the mixed solution of iron (III) chloride and cobalt (II) or nickel (II) nitrate in the first stage and the thermal exfoliation of impregnated expandable graphite with the formation of exfoliated graphite containing cobalt and nickel ferrites in the second stage. Such two-stage method makes it possible to obtain the sorbent based on EG modified by ferrimagnetic phases with high sorption capacity toward oil (up to 45-51 g/g) and high saturation magnetization (up to 42 emu/g). On the other hand, this method allows to produce the magnetic sorbent in a short period of time (up to 10 s) during which the thermal exfoliation is carried out in the air atmosphere.

  17. The Slug and Churn Turbulence Characteristics of Oil-Gas-Water Flows in a Vertical Small Pipe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Weixin; Han, Yunfeng; Wang, Dayang; Zhao, An; Jin, Ningde

    2017-08-01

    The intention of the present study was to investigate the slug and churn turbulence characteristics of a vertical upward oil-gas-water three-phase flow. We firstly carried out a vertical upward oil-gas-water three-phase flow experiment in a 20-mm inner diameter (ID) pipe to measure the fluctuating signals of a rotating electric field conductance sensor under different flow patterns. Afterwards, typical flow patterns were identified with the aid of the texture structures in a cross recurrence plot. Recurrence quantitative analysis and multi-scale cross entropy (MSCE) algorithms were applied to investigate the turbulence characteristics of slug and churn flows with the varying flow parameters. The results suggest that with cross nonlinear analysis, the underlying dynamic characteristics in the evolution from slug to churn flow can be well understood. The present study provides a novel perspective for the analysis of the spatial-temporal evolution instability and complexity in oil-gas-water three-phase flow.

  18. Water-in-oil Pickering emulsions stabilized by stearoylated microcrystalline cellulose.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Bo; Liu, Huan; Liu, Peiwen; Peng, Xinwen; Zhang, Kai

    2018-03-01

    Hydrophobic particles with static water contact angles larger than 90° are more like to stabilize W/O Pickering emulsions. In particular, high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPEs) are of great interest for diverse applications. However, W/O HIPEs have rarely been realized using sustainable biopolymers. Herein, we used stearoylated microcrystalline cellulose (SMCC) to stabilize W/O Pickering emulsions and especially, W/O HIPEs. Moreover, these W/O HIPEs can be further used as platforms for the preparation of porous materials, such as porous foams. Stearoylated microcrystalline cellulose (SMCC) was prepared by modifying MCC with stearoyl chloride under heterogeneous conditions. Using SMCC as emulsifiers, W/O medium and high internal phase Pickering emulsions (MIPEs and HIPEs) with various organic solvents as continuous phases were prepared using one-step and two-step methods, respectively. Polystyrene (PS) foams were prepared after polymerization of oil phase using HIPEs as templates and their oil/water separation capacity were studied. SMCC could efficiently stabilize W/O Pickering emulsions and HIPEs could only be prepared via the two-step method. The internal phase volume fraction of the SMCC-stabilized HIPEs reached as high as 89%. Diverse internal phase volume fractions led to distinct inner structures of foams with closed or open cells. These macroporous polystyrene (PS) foams demonstrated great potential for the effective absorption of organic solvents from underwater. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Determining the water cut and water salinity in an oil-water flowstream by measuring the sulfur content of the produced oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, H.D.; Arnold, D.M.

    1980-01-01

    A technique for detecting water cut and water salinity in an oil/water flowstream in petroleum refining and producing operations is described. The fluid is bombarded with fast neutrons which are slowed down and then captured producing gamma spectra characteristic of the fluid material. Analysis of the spectra indicates the relative presence of the elements sulfur, hydrogen and chlorine and from the sulfur measurement, the oil cut (fractional oil content) of the fluid is determined, enabling the water cut to be found. From the water cut, water salinity can also be determined. (U.K.)

  20. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by miscible CO{sub 2} and water flooding of asphaltenic and non-asphaltenic oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chukwudeme, E. A.; Hamouda, A. A. [Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Stavanger, 4036 Stavanger (Norway)

    2009-07-01

    An EOR study has been performed applying miscible CO{sub 2} flooding and compared with that for water flooding. Three different oils are used, reference oil (n-decane), model oil (n-C10, SA, toluene and 0.35 wt % asphaltene) and crude oil (10 wt % asphaltene) obtained from the Middle East. Stearic acid (SA) is added representing a natural surfactant in oil. For the non-asphaltenic oil, miscible CO{sub 2} flooding is shown to be more favourable than that by water. However, it is interesting to see that for first years after the start of the injection (< 3 years) it is shown that there is almost no difference between the recovered oils by water and CO{sub 2}, after which (> 3 years) oil recovery by gas injection showed a significant increase. This may be due to the enhanced performance at the increased reservoir pressure during the first period. Maximum oil recovery is shown by miscible CO{sub 2} flooding of asphaltenic oil at combined temperatures and pressures of 50 {sup o}C/90 bar and 70 {sup o}C/120 bar (no significant difference between the two cases, about 1%) compared to 80 {sup o}C/140 bar. This may support the positive influence of the high combined temperatures and pressures for the miscible CO{sub 2} flooding; however beyond a certain limit the oil recovery declined due to increased asphaltene deposition. Another interesting finding in this work is that for single phase oil, an almost linear relationship is observed between the pressure drop and the asphaltene deposition regardless of the flowing fluid pressure. (author)

  1. Preparation methods for monodispersed garlic oil microspheres in water using the microemulsion technique and their potential as antimicrobials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Hua Ming; Li, Hou Bin; Wang, Da Wei; Liu, Dun

    2013-08-01

    Garlic oil is considered as a natural broad-spectrum antibiotic because of its well-known antimicrobial activity. However, the characteristics of easy volatility and poor aqueous solubility limit the application of garlic oil in industry. The purpose of the present work is to develop and evaluate an oil-free microemulsion by loading garlic oil in microemulsion system. Microemulsions were prepared with ethoxylated hydrogenated castor (Cremophor RH40) as surfactant, n-butanol (or ethanol) as cosurfactant, oleic acid-containing garlic oil as oil phase, and ultrapure water as water phase. The effects of the ratio of surfactant to cosurfactant and different oil concentration on the area of oil-in-water (O/W) microemulsion region in pseudoternary phase diagrams were investigated. The particle size and garlic oil encapsulation efficiency of the formed microemulsions with different formulations were also investigated. In addition, the antimicrobial activity in vitro against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was assessed. The experimental results show that a stable microemulsion region can be obtained when the mass ratio of surfactant to cosurfactant is, respectively, 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1. Especially, when the mixture surfactants of RH40/n-butanol 2/1 (w/w) is used in the microemulsion formulation, the area of O/W microemulsion region is 0.089 with the particle size 13.29 to 13.85 nm and garlic oil encapsulation efficiency 99.5%. The prepared microemulsion solution exhibits remarkable antibacterial activity against S. aureus. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

  2. TOGA: A TOUGH code for modeling three-phase, multi-component, and non-isothermal processes involved in CO2-based Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pan, Lehua [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Oldenburg, Curtis M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2016-10-10

    TOGA is a numerical reservoir simulator for modeling non-isothermal flow and transport of water, CO2, multicomponent oil, and related gas components for applications including CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) and geologic carbon sequestration in depleted oil and gas reservoirs. TOGA uses an approach based on the Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR-EOS) to calculate the thermophysical properties of the gas and oil phases including the gas/oil components dissolved in the aqueous phase, and uses a mixing model to estimate the thermophysical properties of the aqueous phase. The phase behavior (e.g., occurrence and disappearance of the three phases, gas + oil + aqueous) and the partitioning of non-aqueous components (e.g., CO2, CH4, and n-oil components) between coexisting phases are modeled using K-values derived from assumptions of equal-fugacity that have been demonstrated to be very accurate as shown by comparison to measured data. Models for saturated (water) vapor pressure and water solubility (in the oil phase) are used to calculate the partitioning of the water (H2O) component between the gas and oil phases. All components (e.g., CO2, H2O, and n hydrocarbon components) are allowed to be present in all phases (aqueous, gaseous, and oil). TOGA uses a multiphase version of Darcy’s Law to model flow and transport through porous media of mixtures with up to three phases over a range of pressures and temperatures appropriate to hydrocarbon recovery and geologic carbon sequestration systems. Transport of the gaseous and dissolved components is by advection and Fickian molecular diffusion. New methods for phase partitioning and thermophysical property modeling in TOGA have been validated against experimental data published in the literature for describing phase partitioning and phase behavior. Flow and transport has been verified by testing against related TOUGH2 EOS modules and

  3. Interfacial behavior of alkaline protease at the air-water and oil-water interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jian; Li, Yanyan; Wang, Jing; Zhang, Yue

    2018-03-01

    The interfacial behavior of alkaline protease at the air-water and n-hexane-water interfaces was investigated using interfacial tension, dilatational rheology and dynamic light scattering. Additionally, different adsorption models which are Langmuir, Frumkin, Reorientation-A and Reorientation-R were used to fitting the data of equilibrium interfacial tension for further understanding the interfacial behavior of alkaline protease. Data fitting of the equilibrium interfacial tension was achieved by IsoFit software. The results show that the molecules arrangement of the alkaline protease at the n-hexane-water interface is more tightly than at the air-water interface. The data were further analyzed to indicate that the hydrophobic chains of alkaline protease penetrate into oil phase deeper than the air phase. Also data indicate that the electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic interactions at the n-hexane-water interface are stronger than at the air-water interface within molecules of the alkaline protease. Based on comprehensive analysis of the adsorption kinetics and interfacial rheological properties, interfacial structures mechanism of alkaline protease at n-hexane-water and air-water interfaces was proposed.

  4. The nature of the apolar phase influences the structure of the protein emulsifier in oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by bovine serum albumin. A front-surface fluorescence study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rampon, Vincent; Brossard, Chantal; Mouhous-Riou, Nadine; Bousseau, Benoît; Llamas, Geneviève; Genot, Claude

    2004-05-20

    some of the Trp of the protein to a more hydrophobic environment. Dodecane had the greatest impact on Trp environment (more hydrophobic) followed by miglyol and then by sunflower oil. This is likely due to differences in the conformation of the protein at the hydrocarbon-water interface as compared to the triacylglycerol-water ones. In addition, sunflower oil provoked a large decrease of Trp fluorescence intensity in emulsions and creams as compared to miglyol or dodecane. This could be due to contaminant quenchers in the oil or to interactions of the unsaturated fatty chains with the protein inducing quenching of the Trp. These observations should be related to the physical properties of the apolar phase and its molecular organization and interactions with the protein at the interface.

  5. Used motor oil as a source of MTBE, TAME, and BTEX to ground water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, R.J.; Best, E.W.; Baehr, A.L.

    2002-01-01

    Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), the widely used gasoline oxygenate, has been identified as a common ground water contaminant, and BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) have long been associated with gasoline spills. Because not all instances of ground water contamination by MTBE and BTEX can be attributed to spills or leaking storage tanks, other potential sources need to be considered. In this study, used motor oil was investigated as a potential source of these contaminants. MTBE in oil was measured directly by methanol extraction and gas chromatography using a flame ionization detector (GC/FID). Water was equilibrated with oil samples and analyzed for MTBE, BTEX, and the oxygenate tert-amyl methyl ether (TAME) by purge-and-trap concentration followed by GC/FID analysis. Raoult's law was used to calculate oil-phase concentrations of MTBE, BTEX, and TAME from aqueous-phase concentrations. MTBE, TAME, and BTEX were not detected in any of five new motor oil samples, whereas these compounds were found at significant concentrations in all six samples of the used motor oil tested for MTBE and all four samples tested for TAME and BTEX. MTBE concentrations in used motor oil were on the order of 100 mg/L. TAME concentrations ranged from 2.2 to 87 mg/L. Concentrations of benzene were 29 to 66 mg/L, but those of other BTEX compounds were higher, typically 500 to 2000 mg/L.

  6. Nylon 6,6 Nonwoven Fabric Separates Oil Contaminates from Oil-in-Water Emulsions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryan A Ortega

    Full Text Available Industrial oil spills into aquatic environments can have catastrophic environmental effects. First responders to oil spills along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the southern United States have used spunbond nylon fabric bags and fences to separate spilled oil and oil waste from contaminated water. Low area mass density spunbond nylon is capable of sorbing more than 16 times its mass in low viscosity crude oil and more than 26 times its mass in higher viscosity gear lube oil. Nylon bags separated more than 95% of gear lube oil contaminate from a 4.5% oil-in-water emulsion. Field testing of spunbond nylon fences by oil spill first responders has demonstrated the ability of this material to contain the oily contaminate while allowing water to flow through. We hypothesize that the effectiveness of nylon as an oil filter is due to the fact that it is both more oleophilic and more hydrophilic than other commonly used oil separation materials. The nylon traps oil droplets within the fabric or on the surface, while water droplets are free to flow through the fabric to the water on the opposite side of the fabric.

  7. Oil adsorbing package, also procedure to remove oil from a water surface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1971-05-01

    A method is given to remove oil from water to prevent water pollution. Use is made of an oil-adsorbing packet having a specific gravity which is lower than the specific gravity of water. The hull is manufactured from any material which is not a water-insoluble nonpolar material. The hull is partly permeable to water and encloses a solid oil-adsorbing compound having a large adsorbing surface. (10 claims)

  8. Food grade microemulsion systems: canola oil/lecithin:n-propanol/water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbasi, Soleiman; Radi, Mohsen

    2016-03-01

    In this study, the capability of a natural surfactant, lecithin, and the influence of ionic strength, pH, and temperature on some properties of a food grade microemulsion system were evaluated. For this purpose, the pseudoternary phase diagrams of canola oil/lecithin:n-propanol/water microemulsions in the presence of different salts (NaCl and CaCl2), ionic strengths, pHs, and temperatures were constructed. Our findings showed that the presence of salts slightly increased the W/O areas on the phase diagrams, whereas pH variation was not effective on the microemulsion formation. The expansion of microemulsion areas with temperature indicated the greater triglycerides solubilization capacity of lecithin based microemulsions at higher temperatures. These findings revealed the efficiency of lecithin-based microemulsion system for solubilization of triglycerides which can potentially be used for extraction of edible vegetable oils particularly canola oil. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Oil spill research : salt water and fresh water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goodman, R.

    2006-01-01

    The difference in oil spill response activities between marine and freshwater environments were reviewed. Although containment, recovery and in-situ burning remain the same in both environments, the fate of oil is different due to water density and salinity considerations. The lower energy of lakes and the lack of major currents changes the advection of the oil. Rivers have high currents, and wind speed and direction are highly influenced by topographic effects. Tidal action is not a consideration for the inland situation, but water levels in rivers can change due to sudden rain events or the action of control devices upstream from the spill. Typically, the volume of oil released in freshwater environments is lower than in marine tanker situations, but spills from pipelines or a major train derailment can exceed 1000 m 3 . Since the use of water for human consumption and irrigation is another important factor in inland spills, it is important to have a means of obtaining information on the dynamics of spills and a system for archiving the response activities, such as the shoreline cleanup assessment technique (SCAT)and resulting cleanup. It was suggested that research studies must be undertaken to improve response strategies for freshwater spills. These include the dynamics of oil in freshwater environments such as rivers, lakes and sloughs; the role of oil-fine interactions in freshwater situations; the process involved in the formation of tar balls; and, the dynamics of oil in a freshwater situation. The response techniques that must be developed to improve the response to freshwater spills include techniques to remove oil from the bottom; techniques to filter and remove oil from the water column; and, development and testing of dispersants for freshwater environments

  10. Innovative in-line separators: removal of water or sand in oil/water and gas/liquid/solid pipelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jepson, Paul; Cheolho Kang; Gopal, Madan [CC Technologies, Dublin, OH (United States)

    2003-07-01

    In oil and gas production, multiphase mixtures are often separated before downstream processing. The separators are large, often 20 - 40 feet long and large diameter and use sophisticated internals. The costs are in the millions of dollars. Further, the sand and water in the flow can cause severe internal erosion and corrosion respectively before the flow reaches the separators. The CC Technologies/MIST In line Separation System is a cost-effective, efficient device for use in multiphase environments. The device is applicable for gas/solid, gas/liquid/solid and oil/water systems and offers exceptional separation between phases for a fraction of the cost of expensive gravity separators and hydro cyclones. The System contains no moving parts and is designed to be of the same diameter as the pipe, and experiences low shear forces. It can be fabricated with standard pipes. The efficiency of the separator has been determined in an industrial scale, pilot plant test facility at CC Technologies in 4-inch diameter pipes and has been found to be in excess of 98-99% for the removal of sand. Two phase oil/water separation effectiveness is in excess of 90% in 1-stage and 95% in 2 - stage. (author)

  11. De-emulsifiers for water-in-crude oil-emulsions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zaki, N. [Egyptian Petroleum Research Inst. (EPRI), Cairo (Egypt); Al-Sabagh, A. [Egyptian Petroleum Research Inst. (EPRI), Cairo (Egypt)

    1997-01-01

    The efficiency of 18 different polyalkylphenols-polyalkylene-polyamines-formaldehyde ethoxylates (PAPAFE) in the deemulsification of water-in-crude oil-emulsion were studied. In this respect, two naturally occurring Egyptian water-in-curde oil-emulsions were used to test the investigated de-emulsifiers. The effect of the variation in the molecular structure of the (PAPAFE) on their de-emulsification potency is investigated. The investigation reveals that de-emulsifiers containing nonyl phenol reduce crude oil-water interfacial tension (IFT) and are more efficient than those containing dodecyl phenol. PAPAFE containing more amino groups are found to have better emulsion breaking ability. This is attributed to their enhanced ability to solubilize asphaltenes, which are the prime motivators for crude oil-water emulsion stability. They drag asphaltenes crosslinked at the water-crude oil interface and consequently, resulting in a substantial decrease in emulsion stability. There exists an optimum hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) for the investigated PAPAFE, ranging from 12 to 13.5 at which their maximum de-emulsification ability is attained. All studied PAPAFE showed increased de-emulsification performance by increasing the temperature from 50 to 70 C. Increasing the temperature reduces the viscosity of the crude oil continuous phase and increases the rate of diffusion of both the surfactant molecules and the dispersed water droplets. This will cause an increase in the rate of coalescence of the water droplets. (orig.) [Deutsch] Es wurde die Wirkung von 18 verschiedenen Polyalkylphenolpolyalkylenpolyamine-formaldehydethoxylaten (PAPAFE) bei der Demulgierung von Wasser-in-Rohoel-Emulsionen untersucht. Zwei in Aegypten natuerlich vorkommende Wasser-in-Rohoel-Emulsionen wurden fuer die Versuche eingesetzt, dabei wurde der Einfluss der molekularen Struktur der PAPAFEs auf das Demulgiervermoegen untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass Demulgatoren mit Nonylphenol die

  12. Experimental Study of Silicon Oil Effect on Two-Phase Closed Thermosyphon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Jun Yeong; Jeong, Yong Hoon [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    Two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) is vertically oriented wickless heat pipe that has working fluid in the interior. The TPCT transports a large amount of heat from evaporator to condenser by phase change of working fluid, and the working fluid passively returns to evaporator by gravity. Due to these advantages of the TPCT, the TPCT is considered as method of PRHR (Passive Residual Heat Removal) system in nuclear system. Parametric studies have done to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of the TPCT. Different working fluids such as water, ethanol, methanol and acetone were used at various filling ratios and at different operating temperatures to find maximum heat transport capabilities of TPCT. Effect of heat transfer rate, filling ratio and aspect ratio were investigated. Inclined angle effect was investigated at several filling ratios and working fluids. This study is interested in silicon oil effect on the TPCT. To carry out the experiment, experimental apparatus is designed and manufactured. In design process, the TPCT operation limit is considered This study is interested in silicon oil effect on the TPCT. Experiments were carried out at three oil weight percent with three input power. Effect of oil on the TPCT is evaluated by inner wall temperature distribution and thermal resistance. In this study, silicon oil effect on TPCT was investigated. The TPCT was operated with several oil weight percent and input power. From experiment, overall, the silicon oil reduced evaporator thermal performance, but enhanced condenser thermal performance. However, the TPCT total thermal performance was reduced by 100 c St silicon oil.

  13. Experimental Study of Silicon Oil Effect on Two-Phase Closed Thermosyphon

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Jun Yeong; Jeong, Yong Hoon

    2015-01-01

    Two-phase closed thermosyphon (TPCT) is vertically oriented wickless heat pipe that has working fluid in the interior. The TPCT transports a large amount of heat from evaporator to condenser by phase change of working fluid, and the working fluid passively returns to evaporator by gravity. Due to these advantages of the TPCT, the TPCT is considered as method of PRHR (Passive Residual Heat Removal) system in nuclear system. Parametric studies have done to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of the TPCT. Different working fluids such as water, ethanol, methanol and acetone were used at various filling ratios and at different operating temperatures to find maximum heat transport capabilities of TPCT. Effect of heat transfer rate, filling ratio and aspect ratio were investigated. Inclined angle effect was investigated at several filling ratios and working fluids. This study is interested in silicon oil effect on the TPCT. To carry out the experiment, experimental apparatus is designed and manufactured. In design process, the TPCT operation limit is considered This study is interested in silicon oil effect on the TPCT. Experiments were carried out at three oil weight percent with three input power. Effect of oil on the TPCT is evaluated by inner wall temperature distribution and thermal resistance. In this study, silicon oil effect on TPCT was investigated. The TPCT was operated with several oil weight percent and input power. From experiment, overall, the silicon oil reduced evaporator thermal performance, but enhanced condenser thermal performance. However, the TPCT total thermal performance was reduced by 100 c St silicon oil

  14. Changes in the Characteristics of Water-in-Oil-based High Internal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Changes in the Characteristics of Water-in-Oil-based High Internal Phase Emulsion Containing Moringa Leaves Extract at Various Storage Conditions. ... Conclusion: Moringa HIPE showed stability and can be guided exclusively to protect skin against ultraviolet radiation-mediated oxidative damage. Keywords: Moringa ...

  15. Microphase Separation in Oil-Water Mixtures Containing Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Ions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tasios, Nikos; Samin, Sela; van Roij, Rene; Dijkstra, Marjolein

    2017-01-01

    We develop a lattice-based Monte Carlo simulation method for charged mixtures capable of treating dielectric heterogeneities. Using this method, we study oil-water mixtures containing an antagonistic salt, with hydrophilic cations and hydrophobic anions. Our simulations reveal several phases with a

  16. Study of Water-Oil Emulsion Breaking by Stabilized Solution Consisting of Anionic Surface Acting Agent - Soda Ash - Polymer (ASP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulichkov, S. V.; Avtomonov, E. G.; Andreeva, L. V.; Solomennik, S. F.; Nikitina, A. V.

    2018-01-01

    The paper provides a laboratory research of breaking natural water-oil emulsions: - by non-stabilized ASP; by stabilized ASP; by mixture of stabilized and non-stabilized ASP in different proportions and production of refinery water of the required quality with the use of IronGuard 2495 as flocculant. Oil-in-water emulsion is stable. Classic methods are not suitable for residual water treatment: sediment gravity flow; filtration; centrifuge test. Microemulsion formed after ASP application has low boundary tension and high pH. It contributes to transfer of oil phase into a water one, forming oil-in-water emulsion. Alkaline condition has adverse effect on demulsifying ability of agents, flocculation and boundary tension. For breaking of water-oil emulsion at EBU before the interchanger water or water-oil emulsion from the wells that were not APS-treated in ratio of 1:9 shall be delivered. Residual water after EBU must be prepared in water tanks by dilution in great volume.

  17. Fractionation of lemon essential oil by solvent extraction: Phase equilibrium for model systems at T = 298.2 K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koshima, Cristina C.; Capellini, Maria C.; Geremias, Ivana M.; Aracava, Keila K.; Gonçalves, Cintia B.; Rodrigues, Christianne E.C.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Deterpenation of lemon oil by solvent extraction using hydrous ethanol. ► Limonene, γ-terpinene, β-pinene, and citral were used to simulate the oil. ► Citral shows a higher distribution coefficient than the hydrocarbons. ► Terpenic hydrocarbons exhibit very similar phase separation behaviour. ► NRTL and UNIQUAC models provided a good description of the phase equilibrium. - Abstract: The fractioning of lemon essential oil can be performed by liquid–liquid extraction using hydrous ethanol as a solvent. A quaternary mixture composed of limonene, γ-terpinene, β-pinene, and citral was used to simulate lemon essential oil. In this paper, we present (liquid + liquid) equilibrium data that were experimentally determined for systems containing essential oil compounds, ethanol, and water at T = 298.2 K. The experimental data were correlated using the NRTL and UNIQUAC models, and the mean deviations between calculated and experimental data were less than 0.0053 in all systems, indicating the accuracy of these molecular models in describing our systems. The results show that as the water content in the solvent phase increased, the values of the distribution coefficients decreased, regardless of the type of compound studied. However, the oxygenated compound always showed the highest distribution coefficient among the components of the essential oil, thus making deterpenation of the lemon essential oil a feasible process.

  18. Microfluidic preparation and self diffusion PFG-NMR analysis of monodisperse water-in-oil-in-water double emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Eric; Maan, Abid Aslam; Acquistapace, Simone; Burbidge, Adam; Johns, Michael L; Gunes, Deniz Z; Clausen, Pascal; Syrbe, Axel; Hugo, Julien; Schroen, Karin; Miralles, Vincent; Atkins, Tim; Gray, Richard; Homewood, Philip; Zick, Klaus

    2013-01-01

    Monodisperse water-in-oil-in-water (WOW) double emulsions have been prepared using microfluidic glass devices designed and built primarily from off the shelf components. The systems were easy to assemble and use. They were capable of producing double emulsions with an outer droplet size from 100 to 40 μm. Depending on how the devices were operated, double emulsions containing either single or multiple water droplets could be produced. Pulsed-field gradient self-diffusion NMR experiments have been performed on the monodisperse water-in-oil-in-water double emulsions to obtain information on the inner water droplet diameter and the distribution of the water in the different phases of the double emulsion. This has been achieved by applying regularization methods to the self-diffusion data. Using these methods the stability of the double emulsions to osmotic pressure imbalance has been followed by observing the change in the size of the inner water droplets over time. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. MICROWAVE HEATING AND SEPARATION OF WATER-IN-OIL EMULSION FROM MEXICAN CRUDE OIL

    OpenAIRE

    VAZQUEZ V., ADRIAN; LOPEZ M., ARTURO; ANDRADE C., LUIS J.; VAZQUEZ A., ARIANA M.

    2014-01-01

    Microwave heating and gravity sedimentation are alternatives for demulsification and layer separation into oil and water layers, this process was demonstrated in the laboratory and provides an option for reducing and oil recovering from water-in-oil Mexican oil emulsions. The combinatorial process was implemented in a test lab using Mexican crude oil samples. The Laboratory samples were 100% and 50-50%, crude and crude-water respectively, were heated. The results were encouraging show that mi...

  20. Instability Mechanisms of Water-in-Oil Nanoemulsions with Phospholipids: Temporal and Morphological Structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommerling, Jan-Hendrik; de Matos, Maria B C; Hildebrandt, Ellen; Dessy, Alberto; Kok, Robbert Jan; Nirschl, Hermann; Leneweit, Gero

    2018-01-16

    Many food preparations, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics use water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions stabilized by phospholipids. Moreover, recent technological developments try to produce liposomes or lipid coated capsules from W/O emulsions, but are faced with colloidal instabilities. To explore these instability mechanisms, emulsification by sonication was applied in three cycles, and the sample stability was studied for 3 h after each cycle. Clearly identifiable temporal structures of instability provide evidence about the emulsion morphology: an initial regime of about 10 min is shown to be governed by coalescence after which Ostwald ripening dominates. Transport via molecular diffusion in Ostwald ripening is commonly based on the mutual solubility of the two phases and is therefore prohibited in emulsions composed of immiscible phases. However, in the case of water in oil emulsified by phospholipids, these form water-loaded reverse micelles in oil, which enable Ostwald ripening despite the low solubility of water in oil, as is shown for squalene. As is proved for the phospholipid dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), concentrations below the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) form monolayers at the interfaces and smaller droplet sizes. In contrast, phospholipid concentrations above the CAC create complex multilayers at the interface with larger droplet sizes. The key factors for stable W/O emulsions in classical or innovative applications are first, the minimization of the phospholipids' capacity to form reversed micelles, and second, the adaption of the initial phospholipid concentration to the water content to enable an optimized coverage of phospholipids at the interfaces for the intended drop size.

  1. Oil water laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    P Junior, Oswaldo A.; Verli, Fernando; Lopes, Humberto E.

    2000-01-01

    Usually, the oily water effluent from petroleum processes needs to be treated prior to its environment discard and/or reuse. The synthesis of such water effluent residues in an Oily Water Laboratory - equipped with Water Treatment Pilot Scale Units - is fundamental to the study and effectiveness comparison among the typical industrial water treatment processes. The Oily Water Laboratory will allow the reproduction - in a small scale - of any oily water effluent produced in the industrial PETROBRAS units - such reproduction can be obtained by using the same fluids, oily concentration, salinity, process temperature, particle size distribution etc. Such Laboratory also allows the performance analysis of typical industrial equipment used throughout the water treatment schemes (e.g., hydro-cyclones), resulting in design and/or operational guidelines for these industrial scale schemes. In the particular niche of very small diameter oil droplet removal, more efficient and non-conventional schemes - such as centrifuges and/or membrane filtration - will be also studied in the Laboratory. In addition, the Laboratory shall be used in the certification of in-line oily water analyzers (e.g., TOC - Total Organic Carbon and OWC - Oil Wax Content). This paper describes the characteristics of such Laboratory and its main operational philosophy. (author)

  2. Origin of late pleistocene formation water in Mexican oil reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Birkle, P. [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

    2004-07-01

    . For wellhead samples, a 20 liter-sampling-reagent was previously filled with N{sub 2}-gas for the collection and phase separation of the pressurized gas-water-crude oil mixture. No differences in {sup 14}C-concentrations were detected applying, both, conventional and AMS-techniques. In contradiction to the expected 'fossil age' of reservoir water as part of a stagnant hydraulic system, measured {sup 14}C-concentrations between 0.89 pmC and 31.86 pmC indicate a late Pleistocene-early Holocene, regional event for the infiltration of surface water into the reservoir. The variety in water mineralization from meteoric (TDS{sub max} = 0.5 g/l) to hyper-saline composition (TDS{sub max} = 338 g/l) is not caused by halite dissolution from adjacent salt domes, as shown by elevated Br/Cl ratios. In contrary, the linear correlation between {sup 18}O and Cl values reflect varying mixing proportions of two components - meteoric water and evaporated seawater. Instead of water/rock-interaction, evaporation of seawater at the surface prior to infiltration represents the principal process for fluid enrichment in {sup 18}O and chlorine, with maximum values of 17.2 %o and 228 g/l, respectively. The young residence time of formation water in Mexican oil reservoirs implies following: - The common assumption of 'hydraulically-frozen' reservoirs is not correct, as main descending fluid migration occurred during glacial period. Probably, major infiltration processes are related to periods with climatic changes and increased humidity - as observed for the adjacent Yucatan region in SE-Mexico during early-mid Holocene (6,000 yr BP) (Metcalfe et al. 2000) - with the probable transgression of Mexican Gulf seawater into the recent Mexican coastal plain. - The common hypothesis of hydrocarbon maturation within Jurassic organic-rich layers, and its subsequent expulsion and migration into Cretaceous/Tertiary sedimentary units must be expanded by a last-step-process: As glacial

  3. Method and apparatus for recovering oil from an oil spill on the surface of a body of water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schweizer, R.W.; Patel, K.P.; Lau, P.Y.

    1991-01-01

    This patent describes a method of recovering a hydrophobic hydrocarbon oil from the surface of a body of water, the body of water having a water temperature, the oil having a specific gravity which is less than the specific gravity of the water in the body of water and a viscosity which is greater than approximately 80 centipoise at the water temperature. It comprises continuously withdrawing a feed oil-water mixture from the surface of the body of water; continuously adjusting the viscosity of the oil in the feed oil-water mixture to a level below approximately 80 centipoise to form an adjusted oil-water mixture; and continuously passing the adjusted oil-water mixture through an oil-water coalescer to separate the oil in the adjusted oil-water mixture from the water in the adjusted oil-water mixture

  4. Separating oil from water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Webb, C

    1991-04-11

    The technology available to deal with oil spills has assumed many new faces in recent years. Methods of dealing with small-scale pollution in the process industries and vast oil slicks such as that in the Gulf have developed in parallel. The progress being made in finding new means of separating oil from water is reported and the relative merits of bioremediation, hydrocylones, horizontal separators and gas flotation are discussed. (author).

  5. Study of chemical stability of lemon oil components in sodium caseinate-lactose glycoconjugate-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions using solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabik, Hassan; Achouri, Allaoua; Alfaro, Maria; Pelletier, Marylène; Belanger, Denis; Britten, Michel; Fustier, Patrick

    2014-07-25

    A headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method was developed to quantify lemon oil components and their degradation products in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions prepared with sodium caseinate-heated-lactose (NaC-T + Lact) glycoconjugates as wall materials at two pH values (3.0 and 6.8). NaC-T + Lact conjugates had a significantly lower solubility at both pHs. Hydrolysis prior to glycation enhanced the solubility of glycoconjugates. Glycation with lactose did not improve the emulsion activity of NaC, while caseinate glycoconjugates showed much stronger antioxidant activity than the NaC-control sample. This might be due to the presence of melanoidins formed between the sugar and amino acid compounds as supported by the increase in browning intensity. Among the SPME-fibres tested, carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS) provided better results in terms of sensitivity and selectivity for oil lemon components and their degradation products. Storage studies of these emulsions demonstrated that glycated NaC-T + Lact showed protection against peroxidation compared to the control. However, acidic pH conditions altered their stability over storage time. The major off-flavor components (α-terpineol and carvone) were inhibited in emulsions stabilized with glycated NaC, particularly at pH 6.8. The use of NaC-T + Lact conjugates showed improved encapsulation efficiency and stability and could be used as potential food ingredient-emulsifiers for stabilising citrus oils against oxidative degradation in food and beverage applications.

  6. Fouling reduction by ozone-enhanced backwashing process in ultrafiltration of petroleum-based oil in water emulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aryanti, Nita; Prihatiningtyas, Indah; Kusworo, Tutuk Djoko

    2017-06-01

    Ultrafiltration membrane has been successfully applied for oily waste water treatment. However, one significant drawback of membrane technology is fouling which is responsible for permeate flux decline as well as reducing membrane performance. One method commonly used to reduce fouling is a backwashing process. The backwashing is carried out by a push of reversed flow from permeate side to the feed side of a membrane to remove fouling on the membrane pore and release fouling release fouling layer on the external side. However, for adsorptive fouling, the backwashing process was not effective. On the other hand, Ozone demonstrated great performance for reducing organics fouling. Hence this research was focused on backwashing process with ozone for removing fouling due to ultrafiltration of petroleum based oil emulsion. Gasoline and diesel oil were selected as dispersed phase, while as continuous phase was water added with Tween 80 as a surfactant. This research found that the Ozone backwashing was effective to improve flux recovery. In ultrafiltration of gasoline emulsion, the flux recovery after Ozone backwashing was in the range of 42-74%. For ultrafiltration of diesel oil emulsion, the permeate flux recovery was about 35-84%. In addition, foulant deposition was proposed and predicting that foulant deposition for ultrafiltration of gasoline-in-water emulsion was surfactant as the top layer and the oil was underneath the surfactant. On the other hand, for ultrafiltration of diesel oil-in-water emulsion, the oil was predicted as a top layer above the surfactant foulant.

  7. Osmosis-driven viscous fingering of oil-in-water emulsions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ying; Rallabandi, Bhargav; Baskaran, Mrudhula; Stone, Howard

    2017-11-01

    Viscous fingering occurs when a low viscosity fluid invades a more viscous fluid. Fingering of two miscible fluids is more complicated than that of immiscible fluids in that there is no sharp fluid-fluid interface and diffusion occurs between the phases. We experimentally studied the fingering of two miscible fluids: an oil-in-water emulsion and a sodium chloride solution. When the concentration of sodium chloride in the water phase in the emulsion exceeds that in the sodium chloride solution, the consequent osmotic flow automatically facilitates the occurrence of the fingering. On the contrary, when the sodium chloride solution has higher concentration, the spreading of emulsion is more uniform than the case without the concentration difference. We provide a model to rationalize and quantify these observations.

  8. Phase equilibria study of systems composed of refined babassu oil, lauric acid, ethanol, and water at 303.2 K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reipert, Erika C. D'Anton; Rodrigues, Christianne E.C.; Meirelles, Antonio J.A.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Refining of vegetable oils. → Deacidification of babassu oil by liquid-liquid extraction using ethanol as solvent. → Distribution coefficient values of lauric acid and neutral oil were evaluated. → The carbon chain length of the molecules influenced the solubility of the system. - Abstract: Deacidification of vegetable oils can be performed using liquid-liquid extraction as an alternative method to the classical chemical and physical refining processes. This paper reports experimental data for systems containing refined babassu oil, lauric acid, ethanol, and water at 303.2 K with different water mass fractions in the alcoholic solvent (0, 0.0557, 0.1045, 0.2029, and 0.2972). The dilution of solvent with water reduced the distribution coefficient values, which indicates a reduction in the loss of neutral oil. The experimental data were used to adjust the NRTL equation parameters. The global deviation between the observed and the estimated compositions was 0.0085, indicating that the model can accurately predict the behavior of the compounds at different levels of solvent hydration.

  9. Sustainable water management in Alberta's oil sands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Byers, Bill; Usher, Robyn; Roach, Andrea [CH2M HILL, Englewood, CO (United States); Lambert, Gord; Kotecha, Prit [Suncor Energy Inc., Calgary (Canada)

    2012-07-01

    The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers forecast published in 2011 predicts that oil production from oil sands will increase by 50% in the next 3 years and double by 2020. This rate of growth will result in significant pressure on water resources; water use per barrel of oil sands production is comparable to other energy resources - about 2.5 barrels of fresh water per barrel of oil produced are used by mining operations and 0.5 barrels by in-situ operations. Suncor Energy Inc. (Suncor) was the first company to develop the oil sands in northern Alberta and holds one of the largest oil sands positions in Canada. In 2010, Suncor announced plans to increase production to more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020, which it plans to achieve through oil sands production growth of approximately 10% per year. Because water supply and potential impacts to water quality are critical to its future growth, in 2010-2011 Suncor conducted a risk assessment to identify water-related business risks related to its northern Alberta operations. The assessment identified more than 20 high level business risks in strategic water risk areas including water supply, water reuse, storm water management, groundwater, waste management and river water return. The risk assessment results prompted development of a strategic roadmap to guide water stewardship across Suncor's regional operations. The roadmap describes goals, objectives, and specific activities for each of six key water risk areas, and informs prioritization and selection of prospective water management activities. Suncor is not only exploring water within its own boundaries, but is also collaborating with other oil sands producers to explore ways of integrating its water systems through industry consortia; Suncor is a member of the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative and of the recently formed Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, among others. (author)

  10. Effective adsorption of oil droplets from oil-in-water emulsion using metal ions encapsulated biopolymers: Role of metal ions and their mechanism in oil removal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elanchezhiyan, S Sd; Prabhu, Subbaiah Muthu; Meenakshi, Sankaran

    2018-06-01

    Herein, synthesized and compared the three different kinds of hybrid bio-polymeric composites viz., lanthanum embedded chitosan/gelatin (La@CS-GEL), zirconium embedded chitosan/gelatin (Zr@CS-GEL) and cerium embedded chitosan/gelatin (Ce@CS-GEL) in terms of their oil uptake efficiency. The adsorption efficiency was studied under various optimized parameters like contact time, pH, dose, initial oil concentration and temperature. The oil adsorption capacity was found to be 91, 82 and 45% for La@CS-GEL, Zr@CS-GEL and Ce@CS-GEL composites respectively. The metals were used as a bridging material to connect both CS and GEL using the hydrophilic groups to enhance the oil recovery by hydrophobic interaction. Also, the introduction of metal ions on the surface of biopolymers would modify the oil/water properties which in turn, decrease the interfacial tension between oil and water phases. The mechanism of oil uptake was explained using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) and heat of combustion. The experimental data confirmed Langmuir isotherm as the best fit for oil adsorption process. Thermodynamic parameters such as standard free energy (ΔG°), standard enthalpy (ΔH°) and standard entropy (ΔS°) indicated that the oil adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic. The oil adsorption mechanism was established based on isotherm and thermodynamic models. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Modeling and detection of oil in sea water

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xenaki, Angeliki; Gerstoft, Peter; Mosegaard, Klaus

    2013-01-01

    The challenge of a deep-water oil leak is that a significant quantity of oil remains in the water column and possibly changes properties. There is a need to quantify the oil settled within the water column and determine its physical properties to assist in the oil recovery. There are currently...... for inference of spatial covariance parameters is proposed to describe the scattering field in terms of its second-order statistics from the backscattered returns. The results indicate that high-frequency acoustic methods not only are suitable for large-scale detection of oil contamination in the water column...

  12. Eco-Friendly Superwetting Material for Highly Effective Separations of Oil/Water Mixtures and Oil-in-Water Emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chih-Feng; Yang, Sheng-Yi; Kuo, Shiao-Wei

    2017-02-20

    Because the treatment of oily wastewater, generated from many industrial processes, has become an increasing environmental concern, the search continues for simple, inexpensive, eco-friendly, and readily scalable processes for fabricating novel materials capable of effective oil/water separation. In this study we prepared an eco-friendly superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-modified cotton that mediated extremely efficient separations of mixtures of oil/water and oil/corrosive solutions. This PVP-modified cotton exhibited excellent antifouling properties and could be used to separate oil/water mixtures continuously for up to 20 h. Moreover, the compressed PVP-modified cotton could separate both surfactant-free and -stabilized oil-in-water emulsions with fluxes of up to 23,500 L m -2 h -1 bar -1 -a level one to two orders of magnitude higher than that possible when using traditional ultrafiltration membranes having similar rejection properties. The high performance of our PVP-modified cotton and its green, low-energy, cost-effective preparation suggest its great potential for practical applications.

  13. Influence of the feed pipe position of an industrial scale two-phase decanter on extraction efficiency and chemical-sensory characteristics of virgin olive oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caponio, Francesco; Squeo, Giacomo; Brunetti, Lucio; Pasqualone, Antonella; Summo, Carmine; Paradiso, Vito M; Catalano, Pasquale; Bianchi, Biagio

    2018-02-10

    Nowadays, olive oil extraction is basically achieved by means of two-phase decanters, which allow a reduction of water consumption and the leaching of phenolic compounds. Despite this, most of the working settings derive from studies carried out on three-phase decanters. Hence, the aim of the present study was to assess the influence of two-phase decanter feed pipe position (FP) on the extraction efficiency and chemical-sensory characteristics of virgin olive oil. Three different positions were considered: at 825 mm (FP1), 610 mm (FP2) and 520 mm (FP3) from the outlet of the oily phase. Position FP3 allowed the highest oil recovery (up to 10%), the lowest percentage of oil in the olive pomace and, in general, a regular trend in terms of oil extraction efficiency. However, the oily must that came out of the decanter was not completely clean in terms of residual content of solid sediment and water. The feeding position partially affected the profile of antioxidant compounds. In two-phase decanters, loading the olive paste close to the outlet of the oily phase is recommended to increase the extraction efficiency without jeopardizing the chemical-sensory characteristics of virgin olive oil. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

  14. Transitional phase inversion of crude oil emulsions by solid particles; Inversao transicional de emulsoes de petroleo com particulas solidas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Souza, Troner A. de; Scheer, Agnes P.; Soares, Cristyan R.; Luz Junior, Luiz Fernando de Lima [Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR), Curitiba, PR (Brazil); Oliveira, Marcia Cristina K. de [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas (CENPES)

    2008-07-01

    In petroleum production water-in-oil emulsions (W/O) can be found, due to simultaneous flowing of the oil and formation water. This emulsions provide an increase in the viscosity; that can be reduced for the phase inversion in oil-in-water emulsions (O/W), resulting in pressure drop and consequently cost production reduction. The petroleum emulsions W/O were prepared at 60 deg C, with 50% v/v of saline water containing 50 g.L{sup -1} of NaCl. The hydrophilic solids content was varied between 0,5% and 8%, mass fraction, related to the water. The quantity of solids needed to phase inversion of the emulsion was measured by conductivimetry. The stability of the emulsions was verified, at 60 deg C, for the time determination in order to have two phases in four hours, checking the viability for production; and during 24 hours, checking the viability for transportation. Under dynamics conditions, was also noted the stability at 20 deg C, for reproduce the flowing condition. Two of the hydrophilic particles tested in the transitional phase inversion of petroleum emulsions presented better results in quantity and stability. Preliminaries rheological properties measurements were carried out adjusting the temperature of the sample in the range of 30 deg C to 12 deg C a shear rate from 20s{sup -1} to 250s {sup -1}, viscosity decrease was observed until two orders of magnitude. (author)

  15. Measurement of oil on water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cordemann, A.; Damaske, O.; Schlaak, M.

    1994-01-01

    In the measurement of oil on water in the cooling water outflow, in the outfall and intaked of effluent treatment plants, in waterways and in process plants, many methods of measurement available in the market have duration problems or basic difficulties as a result of associated conditions. A series of methods of measurement and equipment has been investigated for the measurement of oil on water. It was been established that the fluorescence method of measurement which operates without contact is especially suitable for this task. (orig.) [de

  16. Water-in-oil emulsions results of formation studies and applicability to oil spill modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fingas, Merv; Fieldhouse, Ben; Mullin, Joe

    1999-01-01

    This paper summarises studies of water-in-oil emulsions, their stability, and modelling of their formation. Studies show that water-in-oil emulsions might be characterised into three categories (stable, mesostable and unstable). These categories were established by visual appearance, elasticity and viscosity difference. It was also shown that water content was not an important factor. A fourth category of water-in-oil exists, that of water entrainment, which is not an emulsion. Water-in-oil emulsions made from crude oils have different classes of stabilities as a result of the asphaltene and resin contents. The differences in the emulsion types are readily distinguished both by their rheological properties, and simply by appearance. The apparent viscosity of a stable emulsion at a shear rate of one reciprocal second, is at least three orders-of-magnitude greater than the starting oil. An unstable emulsion usually has a viscosity no more than one order-of-magnitude greater than that of the starting oil. A stable emulsion has a significant elasticity, whereas an unstable emulsion does not. Stable emulsions have sufficient asphaltenes (>∼7%) to establish films of these compounds around water droplets. Mesostable emulsions have insufficient asphaltenes to render them completely stable. Stability is achieved by visco-elastic retention of water and secondarily by the presence of asphaltene or resin films. Mesostable emulsions display apparent viscosities of about 80-600 times that of the starting oil and true viscosities of 20-200 times that of the starting oil. Mesostable emulsions have an asphaltene and resin content greater than 3%. Entrained water occurs when a viscous oil retains larger water droplets, but conditions are not suitable for the formation of an emulsion. Entrained water may have a viscosity that is similar or slightly greater (∼ 2-10 times) than the starting oil. It was found that emulsion formation occurs at a threshold energy, however this energy

  17. The density behaviour of heavy oils in water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fingas, M.; Hollebone, B.; Fieldhouse, B.

    2006-01-01

    The recent concern regarding the difficulty of cleaning up Low API gravity oils (LAPIO) spilled in water was discussed. Sinking and overwashing are 2 phenomena related to the behaviour of these heavy oils in water. Sinking refers to the complete submergence of the oil to the bottom of a waterbody, while over-washing refers to the overflowing of a layer of water over dense oil at sea when the oil is still close to the surface. The latter is important because even a micron-layer of water could render the oil undetectable, particularly at acute viewing angles, such as from a ship. This paper reviewed the properties of heavy oil, the prediction of density changes and the sinking/over-washing of heavy oil. In particular, it discussed a spill which occurred in August 2005 when 11 tank cars from train derailment spilled 800,000 litres of Bunker fuel mixed with high PAH-containing pole-treating oil into Lake Wabamun, Alberta. The behaviour of the oil included submergence, neutral buoyancy, resurfacing and formation of several types of aggregates of oil. This study summarized the behaviours and processes that transformed the particles of oil into small tar balls, larger logs, sheets, and large lumps into a slick. Sediment uptake or loss was found to be the major process that caused the changes in density. The behaviour of the oils was compared with respect to density and uptake of various types of sediment. The paper also reviewed the literature on dense oil behaviour. Weathering experiments performed on dense oils to determine if extensive weathering could render oils heavier than water showed that rarely is weathering the only factor in the bulk sinking of oil. Once an oil is submerged, little weathering occurs, either by dissolution or volatilization. The uptake of particulate matter is the most important process in increasing density. This study reviewed over-washing experiments to develop a mathematical solution of the conditions required for oil to be covered by a

  18. Too little oil, too much coal: Optimal carbon tax and when to phase in oil, coal and renewables

    OpenAIRE

    van der Ploeg, Frederick; Withagen, Cees A.

    2011-01-01

    Our main message is that it is optimal to use less coal and more oil once one takes account of coal being a backstop which emits much more CO2 than oil. The way of achieving this is to have a steeply rising carbon tax during the initial oil-only phase, a less-steeply rising carbon tax during the intermediate phase where oil and coal are used alongside each other and the following coal-only phase, and a flat carbon tax during the final renewables-only phase. The "laissez-faire" outcome uses co...

  19. Preparation of novel cotton fabric composites with pH controlled switchable wettability for efficient water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qian; Wu, Jianning; Meng, Guihua; Wang, Yixi; Liu, Zhiyong; Guo, Xuhong

    2018-06-01

    The wetting materials with the ability of controllable oil/water separation have drawn more and more public attention. In this article, the novel cotton fabric (CF) with pH controlled wettability transition was designed by a simple, environmentally friendly coating copolymer/SiO2 nanoparticles, poly(heptadecafluorodecyl methacrylate- co-3-trimethoxysilylpropyl methacrylate- co-2-vinilpiridine) (PHDFDMA- co-PTMSPMA- co-P2VP). Furthermore, the structures and morphologies of coated CF were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), NMR, GPC, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The coated CF exhibits switchable wettability between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity via adjusting pH value. When the coated CF is placed in the neutral aqueous (pH = 7.0), it is superhydrophobic in the air and superoleophilic. It allows oil to go through but blocking water. However, in acidic aqueous environment (pH = 3.0), it turns superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic, which allows water to penetrate but blocking oil. Therefore, the coated CF could be applied to separate oil/water mixtures, ternary oil/water/water mixtures continuously and different surfactant stabilized emulsions (oil-in-water, water-in-oil) and displays the superior separation capacity for oil-water mixtures with a high efficiency of 99.8%. Moreover, the cycling tests demonstrate that the coated CF possesses excellent recyclability and durability. Such an eminent, controllable water/oil permeation feature makes coated CF could be selected as an ideal candidate for oil/water separation.

  20. Conversion of Crude Oil to Methane by a Microbial Consortium Enriched From Oil Reservoir Production Waters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolina eBerdugo-Clavijo

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The methanogenic biodegradation of crude oil is an important process occurring in petroleum reservoirs and other oil-containing environments such as contaminated aquifers. In this process, syntrophic bacteria degrade hydrocarbon substrates to products such as acetate, and/or H2 and CO2 that are then used by methanogens to produce methane in a thermodynamically dependent manner. We enriched a methanogenic crude oil-degrading consortium from production waters sampled from a low temperature heavy oil reservoir. Alkylsuccinates indicative of fumarate addition to C5 and C6 n-alkanes were identified in the culture (above levels found in controls, corresponding to the detection of an alkyl succinate synthase gene (assA in the culture. In addition, the enrichment culture was tested for its ability to produce methane from residual oil in a sandstone-packed column system simulating a mature field. Methane production rates of up 5.8 μmol CH4/g of oil/day were measured in the column system. Amounts of produced methane were in relatively good agreement with hydrocarbon loss showing depletion of more than 50% of saturate and aromatic hydrocarbons. Microbial community analysis revealed that the enrichment culture was dominated by members of the genus Smithella, Methanosaeta, and Methanoculleus. However, a shift in microbial community occurred following incubation of the enrichment in the sandstone columns. Here, Methanobacterium sp. were most abundant, as were bacterial members of the genus Pseudomonas and other known biofilm forming organisms. Our findings show that microorganisms enriched from petroleum reservoir waters can bioconvert crude oil components to methane both planktonically and in sandstone-packed columns as test systems. Further, the results suggest that different organisms may contribute to oil biodegradation within different phases (e.g., planktonic versus sessile within a subsurface crude oil reservoir.

  1. Mitigation of Oil in Water Column: Concept Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-01

    subsea pipeline leaks , or the leaking of oil from tanks after a damaged vessel has sunk to the bottom. Oil arriving at the surface of the water may...i Classification | CG-926 RDC | author | audience | month year Mitigation of Oil in Water Column: Concept Development Distribution...Center. June 2016 Report No. CG-D-03-16 Mitigation of Oil in Water Column: Concept Development ii UNCLAS//Public | CG-926 RDC

  2. GIS-and Web-based Water Resource Geospatial Infrastructure for Oil Shale Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, Wei [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Minnick, Matthew [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Geza, Mengistu [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Murray, Kyle [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Mattson, Earl [Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

    2012-09-30

    visualization techniques of the Piceance Basin structure spatial distribution of the oil shale resources. The sur- face water/groundwater models quantify the water shortage and better understanding the spatial distribution of the available water resources. The energy resource development systems model reveals the phase shift of water usage and the oil shale production, which will facilitate better planning for oil shale development. Detailed descriptions about the key findings from the project activity, major accomplishments, and expected impacts of the research will be given in the sec- tion of “ACCOMPLISHMENTS, RESULTS, AND DISCUSSION” of this report.

  3. An approach for upgrading biomass and pyrolysis product quality using a combination of aqueous phase bio-oil washing and torrefaction pretreatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Dengyu; Cen, Kehui; Jing, Xichun; Gao, Jinghui; Li, Chen; Ma, Zhongqing

    2017-06-01

    Bio-oil undergoes phase separation because of poor stability. Practical application of aqueous phase bio-oil is challenging. In this study, a novel approach that combines aqueous phase bio-oil washing and torrefaction pretreatment was used to upgrade the biomass and pyrolysis product quality. The effects of individual and combined pretreatments on cotton stalk pyrolysis were studied using TG-FTIR and a fixed bed reactor. The results showed that the aqueous phase bio-oil washing pretreatment removed metals and resolved the two pyrolysis peaks in the DTG curve. Importantly, it increased the bio-oil yield and improved the pyrolysis product quality. For example, the water and acid content of bio-oil decreased significantly along with an increase in phenol formation, and the heating value of non-condensable gases improved, and these were more pronounced when combined with torrefaction pretreatment. Therefore, the combined pretreatment is a promising method, which would contribute to the development of polygeneration pyrolysis technology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. The separation of stable water-in-oil emulsions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Velicogna, D.; Koundakjiian, A.; Beausejour, I.

    1993-01-01

    Stable oil-in-water emulsions are a major problem in the recovery of spilled oils. Such emulsions can contain as little as 10% oil and can have properties very different from the original oils, making their storage and disposal difficult. These problems have led to experiments testing the feasibility of a process for separating these stable emulsions into dischargeable water and reusable oil. The technique investigated involves use of a recyclable solvent to remove the oil and subsequent distillation and/or membrane treatment to recover the oil and recycle the solvent. Results of preliminary tests show that stable water-in-oil emulsions can be separated quite readily with a regenerated solvent system. The only products of these systems are oil, which can be sent to a refinery, and dischargeable water. The recycled solvent can be used many times without any significant decrease in separation efficiency. In order to enhance the throughput of the system, a solvent vapor stripping method was invented. This stripping method also improves the quality of the products and the recycled solvent. Membrane methods can be used as a post-treatment for the produced water in order to achieve more adequate compliance with discharge limits. 4 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs

  5. 40 CFR 60.692-3 - Standards: Oil-water separators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Standards: Oil-water separators. 60.692... Emissions From Petroleum Refinery Wastewater Systems § 60.692-3 Standards: Oil-water separators. (a) Each oil-water separator tank, slop oil tank, storage vessel, or other auxiliary equipment subject to the...

  6. 40 CFR 61.347 - Standards: Oil-water separators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 8 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Standards: Oil-water separators. 61.347... Waste Operations § 61.347 Standards: Oil-water separators. (a) Except as provided in § 61.352 of this subpart, the owner or operator shall meet the following standards for each oil-water separator in which...

  7. Estimation Of Height Of Oil -Water Contact Above Free Water Level ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    An estimate of oil-water contact (OWC) and the understanding of the capillary behaviour of hydrocarbon reservoirs are vital for optimum reservoir characterization, hydrocarbon exploration and production. Hence, the height of oil-water contact above free water level for different rock types from some Niger Delta reservoirs ...

  8. Stability of bisphenol A (BPA) in oil-in water emulsions under riboflavin photosensitization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Eun Yeong; Park, Chan Uk; Kim, Mi-Ja; Lee, JaeHwan

    2012-08-01

    Effects of riboflavin photosensitization on the degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) were determined in oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or sodium azide, which are a metal chelator or a singlet oxygen quencher, respectively. Also, the distribution of BPA between the continuous and dispersed phases in O/W emulsions was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The concentration of BPA in O/W emulsions significantly decreased by 38.6% after 2 h under visible light irradiation and in the presence of riboflavin (P riboflavin photosensitization (P riboflavin photodegradation in O/W emulsions. Concentration of BPA, an endocrine disrupting chemical, was decreased significantly in oil-in-water emulsions under riboflavin and visible light irradiation. BPA in continuous aqueous phase was major target of riboflavin photosensitization. However, BPA was distributed more densely in lipid phase and more protected from riboflavin photosensitized O/W emulsions. This study can help to decrease the level of BPA in foods made of O/W emulsions containing riboflavin, which could be displayed under visible light irradiation. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

  9. Fractionation of acid lime essential oil using ethanol/water mixtures: Effect of the process on the aroma profile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonçalves, Daniel; Costa, Patrícia; Rodrigues, Christianne E.C.; Rodrigues, Alírio E.

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Fractionation of crude acid lime essential oil using ethanol/water mixtures. • Extract phases were enriched in aroma-active components. • Predicted compositions of liquid phases fitted well with the experimental data. • Aroma-active components were separated from terpenes, keeping the original acid lime essential oil odour. • The water content in the solvent did not affect the aroma profile of the phases from the liquid–liquid equilibrium. - Abstract: This study aims to separate aroma-active components of the crude Citrus latifolia essential oil (EO) from the unstable terpene hydrocarbons using ethanol/water mixtures through liquid–liquid equilibrium (LLE) and to evaluate the aroma profiles of the crude EO and the LLE phases. For this purpose, the liquid compositions of the crude EOs and the LLE phases were found by gas chromatography analysis. The compositions of the liquid phases were predicted using the NRTL model and compared to the experimental data. Afterwards, the concentrations of the components in the vapour phases above the liquid mixtures were obtained by headspace analysis and the odour intensity of each component was estimated using the Stevens’ power law concept. Finally, the classification into olfactory families was evaluated through the Perfumery Radar methodology. The solvent extraction technique made it possible to obtain extract phases enriched in citral and poor in monoterpenes, with aromas profiles similar to that of the crude EO and classified as herbaceous and citrus scent, with floral, woody, and oriental nuances. The extract phase obtained from ethanol with 50% water was found to be a promising fraction for industrial applications. Furthermore, the results proved that the NRTL parameters can be efficiently used to predict the compositions of the phases from the LLE.

  10. Dextran-induced depletion flocculation in oil-water emulsions in the presence of sucrose

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blijdenstein, T.B.J.; Zoet, F.D.; Vliet, van T.; Linden, van der E.; Aken, van G.A.

    2004-01-01

    The phase behaviour and mechanical properties of 10 wt% oil-in-water emulsions, stabilised by ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg) and flocculated by the polysaccharide dextran were studied as a function of sucrose concentration. The sucrose concentration affected neither the polysaccharide concentration above

  11. Two-phase flow in volatile oil reservoir using two-phase pseudo-pressure well test method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharifi, M.; Ahmadi, M. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada)

    2009-09-15

    A study was conducted to better understand the behaviour of volatile oil reservoirs. Retrograde condensation occurs in gas-condensate reservoirs when the flowing bottomhole pressure (BHP) lowers below the dewpoint pressure, thus creating 4 regions in the reservoir with different liquid saturations. Similarly, when the BHP of volatile oil reservoirs falls below the bubblepoint pressure, two phases are created in the region around the wellbore, and a single phase (oil) appears in regions away from the well. In turn, higher gas saturation causes the oil relative permeability to decrease towards the near-wellbore region. Reservoir compositional simulations were used in this study to predict the fluid behaviour below the bubblepoint. The flowing bottomhole pressure was then exported to a well test package to diagnose the occurrence of different mobility regions. The study also investigated the use of a two-phase pseudo-pressure method on volatile and highly volatile oil reservoirs. It was concluded that this method can successfully predict the true permeability and mechanical skin. It can also distinguish between mechanical skin and condensate bank skin. As such, the two-phase pseudo-pressure method is particularly useful for developing after-drilling well treatment and enhanced oil recovery process designs. However, accurate relative permeability and PVT data must be available for reliable interpretation of the well test in volatile oil reservoirs. 18 refs., 3 tabs., 9 figs.

  12. Exploratory study on prevaporation membranes for removal of water from water-crude oil emulsions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1989-01-11

    The main objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of removing water from oil/water and water/oil emulsions by means of prevaporation. Simulated oil/water and water/oil emulsions were prepared by mixing water and kerosene of various concentrations and stabilized by adding sodium lauryl sulfate. Preliminary experiments were conducted on 12 membranes fabricated from two different materials. One membrane of each type of material was chosen for further work based on the results of preliminary tests, in which two different kinds of membranes, cellulose and polyvinylalcohol, were used. All experiments were carried out under two different down-stream pressures and various temperatures. The tests showed clearly that permeation rate increases at increasing temperatures. It was demonstrated that over 97% of water can be recovered from synthetic oil emulsions. The results also proved that both cellulose and polyvinylalcohol membranes produced permeates relatively free of oil even when the synthetic or crude oil emulsions had oil content higher than 90%. The study concluded that prevaporation was effective, but more extensive studies on various field oil emulsions with improved membrane material and systems were necessary due to the complex and site-specific characteristics of the actual field emulsions. 3 figs., 8 tabs.

  13. Cut-off effect of radical TEMPO derivatives in olive oil-in-water emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopez de Arbina, Amaia; Rezende, Marcos Caroli; Aliaga, Carolina

    2017-06-01

    Three oil-in-water emulsions were prepared from mixtures of olive oil and Tween 20 in water. The effectiveness of a series of radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinoxyl (TEMPO) derivatives of variable lipophilicity in reactions with antioxidant Trolox, and as pyrene-fluorescence quenchers, was compared in the three emulsions. A "cut-off" effect was observed for the pyrene quenching by the probes, but not for their reaction with Trolox. The results were rationalized in terms of the amphiphobic nature of the probes, and the different locations of probe, pyrene and Trolox in the three-phase microheterogeneous systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. In-Situ Burning of Crude Oil on Water

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    van Gelderen, Laurens

    in the small scale water basin. Boilovers were also observed during the burning of a heavy crude oil with a substantial light fraction without a water layer, however, which suggests that water is not essential for boilover occurrence. Further studies are required to determine the conditions under which......The fire dynamics and fire chemistry of in-situ burning of crude oil on water was studied in order to improve predictions on the suitability of this oil spill response method. For this purpose, several operational parameters were studied to determine the factors that control the burning efficiency...... of in-situ burning, i.e. the amount of oil (in wt%) removed from the water surface by the burning process. The burning efficiency is the main parameter for expressing the oil removal effectiveness of in-situ burning as response method and is thus relevant for suitability predictions of in-situ burning...

  15. Molecular Theory and Simulation of Water-Oil Contacts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Liang

    The statistical mechanical theory of hydrophobic interactions was initiated decades ago for purely repulsive hydrophobic species, in fact, originally for hard-sphere solutes in liquid water. Systems which treat only repulsive solute-water interactions obviously differ from the real world situation. The issue of the changes to be expected from inclusion of realistic attractive solute-water interactions has been of specific interest also for decades. We consider the local molecular field (LMF) theory for the effects of solute attractive forces on hydrophobic interactions. The principal result of LMF theory is outlined, then tested by obtaining radial distribution functions (rdfs) for Ar atoms in water, with and without attractive interactions distinguished by the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (WCA) separation. Change from purely repulsive atomic solute interactions to include realistic attractive interactions substantially diminishes the strength of hydrophobic bonds. Since attractions make a big contribution to hydrophobic interactions, Pratt-Chandler theory, which did not include attractions, should not be naively compared to computer simulation results with general physical interactions, including attractions. Lack of general appreciation of this point has lead to mistaken comparisons throughout the history of this subject. The rdfs permit evaluation of osmotic second virial coefficients B2. Those B 2 are consistent with the conclusion that incorporation of attractive interactions leads to more positive (repulsive) values. In all cases here, B2 becomes more attractive with increasing temperature below T = 360K, the so-call inverse temperature behavior. In 2010, the Gulf of Mexico Macondo well (Deepwater Horizon) oil spill focused the attention of the world on water-oil phase equilibrium. In response to the disaster, chemical dispersants were applied to break oil slicks into droplets and thus to avoid large-scale fouling of beaches and to speed up biodegradation

  16. Oil production and water management in Oman

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parker, D.H.; Kuijvenhoven, C.A.T.; Waterland, R.D.; Smies, M.

    1991-01-01

    This paper describes the development of integrated (production) water management in Petroleum Development Oman. In its existing oil fields the water cut is rising rapidly and water production is expected to increase two to three times in the next 15 years. Re-injection of production water will continue to account for less than half of the volume of co-produced water. Current subsurface disposal of production water to shallow Tertiary formations is based on thorough knowledge of the local hydrogeology and does not affect potable water resources. However, in view of the expected increase in production water volume, utilization and disposal options have been re-evaluated. This review has been facilitated by recently acquired data on production water quality and by the results of research in dehydration and de-oiling technologies and of tests with production chemicals. The combined knowledge base is used to arrive at water management strategies for individual oil fields that are sound both in principle and in practice

  17. A new Experimental Rig for Oil Burning on Water

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brogaard, Nicholas L.; Sørensen, Martin X.; Fritt-Rasmussen, Janne

    2014-01-01

    A new experimental apparatus, the Crude Oil Flammability Apparatus (COFA), has been developed to study in-situ burning of crude and pure oils spilled on water in a controlled laboratory environment with large water-to-oil ratios. The parameters and phenomena studied for an asphaltic crude oil...... is superheated. When the initial crude oil layer thickness exceeded 20 mm the oil became solid and no boilover occurred. The heat-loss to the water sub-layer also had an effect on the burning efficiency and the regression rate was found to reach a constant value after increasing continuously as the oil...... (Grane) and two pure oils (n-Octane and dodecane) with different initial oil layer thicknesses include burning efficiency, burning rate, regression rate, flame height and boilover. Pyrex glass cylinders (157 and 260 mm ID) placed on top of a steel foot in a water basin (1m x 1m x 0.5m) enabled free...

  18. Distribution of dispersed oil phase in hydrocarbon fermentations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ho, C S; Erickson, L E

    1978-04-01

    Recent experimental results show that the spreading coefficient frequently becomes positive when Candida lipolytica is cultivated on n-hexadecane. The effects of oil spreading at the surface of air bubbles in an airlift fermentor are examined using a mathematical model. The distribution of the oil phase with position and among the phases is determined using computer simulation. The simulation results qualitatively explain some of the experimental observations which have been previously reported.

  19. Absorption of water and lubricating oils into porous nylon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertrand, P. A.

    1995-01-01

    Oil and water absorption from air into sintered porous nylon can be described by infiltration into the pores of the material. This process can be modeled by a diffusion-like mechanism. For water absorption, we find a formal diffusion coefficient of 1.5 x 10(exp -4)sq cm/min when the nylon is initially dry. The diffusion coefficient is 4 x 10(exp -6)sq cm/min when the nylon is oil-impregnated prior to air exposure. In a 52% RH atmosphere, dry nylon absorbs 3% w/w water, and oil-impregnated nylon absorbs 0.6% w/w water. For oil absorption there are three steps: (1) surface absorption and infiltration into (2) larger and (3) smaller pores. Surface absorption is too fast to be measured in these experiments. The diffusion coefficient for the second step is 6 x 10(exp -4)sq cm/min for SRG-60 oil into dry nylon and 4 x 10(exp -4)sq cm/min for air-equilibrated nylon. The diffusion coefficient for the third step is about 1 x 10(exp -6)sq cm/min for both cases. The total amount of oil absorbed is 31% w/w. The interaction between water and nylon is not as strong as that between water and cotton-phenolic: oil can replace water, and only a small amount of water can enter previously oil-impregnated nylon.

  20. Water footprints of products of oil palm plantations and palm oil mills in Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suttayakul, Phetrada; H-Kittikun, Aran; Suksaroj, Chaisri; Mungkalasiri, Jitti; Wisansuwannakorn, Ruthairat; Musikavong, Charongpun

    2016-01-15

    The water footprint (WF) of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) from oil palm plantations and crude palm oil (CPO) from palm oil mills in southern and eastern Thailand were determined over 25 years. Climatic conditions, soil characteristics, and the characteristics of oil palm growth were considered. The WF of FFBs was 1063 m(3)/ton (t) on average. Green, blue, and grey waters comprised of 68, 18, and 14% of total WF, respectively. The oil palm plantations in Thailand required smaller amounts of indirect blue water. The average WF for producing a ton of CPO of seven mills was 5083 m(3). Most of the waters used in the mills originated from indirect green, blue and grey waters from the plantations. The direct blue water used in the mills had less impact on the total WF, lower than 1% of the total WF. Average percentages of green, blue, and grey waters of 69, 16, and 15% of total WF were determined for the mills, respectively. The water deprivation of the FFBs and CPO ranged from 0.73-12.9 and 3.44-58.3 m(3)H2Oeq/t, respectively. In 2013, the CPO production in Thailand including green, blue, and grey waters from plantation and blue water from mills required 11,343 million m(3) water. If the oil palm variety Suratthani 7 is used in the plantation, it would increase the yield from 15.2 to 22.8 t FFBs/ha-year and decrease the WF to 888 m(3)/t FFBs. The average value of the oil extraction rate (OER) of mills was 18.1%. With an increase in the OER of 1%, a reduction of the WF of 250 m(3)/t CPO or 5.1% of total WF could be obtained. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Study of factors governing oil-water separation process using TiO₂ films prepared by spray deposition of nanoparticle dispersions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gondal, Mohammed A; Sadullah, Muhammad S; Dastageer, Mohamed A; McKinley, Gareth H; Panchanathan, Divya; Varanasi, Kripa K

    2014-08-27

    Surfaces which possess extraordinary water attraction or repellency depend on surface energy, surface chemistry, and nano- and microscale surface roughness. Synergistic superhydrophilic-underwater superoleophobic surfaces were fabricated by spray deposition of nanostructured TiO2 on stainless steel mesh substrates. The coated meshes were then used to study gravity driven oil-water separation, where only the water from the oil-water mixture is allowed to permeate through the mesh. Oil-water separation efficiencies of up to 99% could be achieved through the coated mesh of pore sizes 50 and 100 μm, compared to no separation at all, that was observed in the case of uncoated meshes of the same material and pore sizes. An adsorbed water on the TiO2 coated surface, formation of a water-film between the wires that form the mesh and the underwater superoleophobicity of the structured surface are the key factors that contribute to the enhanced efficiency observed in oil-water separation. The nature of the oil-water separation process using this coated mesh (in which the mesh allows water to pass through the porous structure but resists wetting by the oil phase) minimizes the fouling of mesh so that the need for frequent replacement of the separating medium is reduced. The fabrication approach presented here can be applied for coating large surface areas and to develop a large-scale oil-water separation facility for oil-field applications and petroleum industries.

  2. Water pollution potential of mineral oils with high content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (heavy fuel oil and neutral oil extracts); Untersuchungen zur Wassergefaehrdung durch Mineraloele mit hohen Gehalten an polycyclischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen (Heizoel Schwer und Extrakte)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Albers, G. [Mobil Schmierstoff GmbH, Hamburg (Germany)

    1999-01-01

    A data base on highly aromatic mineral oils has been compiled to classify mineral oil products according to their water-pollution potential (water hazard class or Wassergefaehrdungsklasse, WGK). This activity has been undertaken through the Commission for Water Hazardous Materials (Kommission Bewertung Wassergefaehrdender Stoffe, KBwS). In this special case, highly aromatic mineral oils containing a high concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Polyaromatische Kohlenwasserstoffe, PAK) were evaluated. A test method for measuring the elution potential of PAK into water was developed on petroleum products with high viscosity and high freeze point. This method was applied to determine the solubility of 23 PAK (including 16 PAK according to EPA 610 and 6 PAK according to the German drinking water regulation (Trinkwasserverordnung, TVO)) from heavy fuel oil and neutral oil extract in the aqueous phase. For the 6 PAK, according to TVO, a sum limit of 0,2 {mu}g/l in drinking water is permitted by German legislation. This limit was not exceeded in any of the water phases examined. (orig.) [Deutsch] Fuer die Einstufung von Mineraloelprodukten in die Wassergefaehrdungsklassen (WGK) durch die Kommission Bewertung Wassergefaehrdender Stoffe ist es notwendig, Basisdaten zur Verfuegung zu stellen. Im speziellen Fall handelt es sich um die Bewertung von Mineraloelen, die sich durch einen hohen Gehalt an polycyclischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen (PAK) auszeichnen. Zur Eluierbarkeit von PAK`s aus Produkten mit hoher Viskosiaet bzw. mit hohem Stockpunkt wurde eine Pruefmethode entwickelt. Diese Methode wurde zur Bestimmung der Loeslichkeit von 23 PAK`s (16 PAK`s nach EPA-Liste incl. 6 PAK`s der TVO) aus den Mineraloelen Heizoel Schwer und Neutralextrakt in der Wasserphase eingesetzt. Fuer die PAK der TVO ist in der TVO ein Summengrenzwert von 0,2 {mu}g/l Trinkwasser angegeben. Dieser Grenzwert wurde in keiner der untersuchten Wasserphasen ueberschritten. (orig.)

  3. Oil-in-water lipid emulsions: implications for parenteral and ocular delivering systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamilvanan, S

    2004-11-01

    Lipid emulsions (LEs) are heterogenous dispersions of two immiscible liquids (oil-in-water or water-in-oil) and they are subjected to various instability processes like aggregation, flocculation, coalescence and hence eventual phase separation according to the second law of thermodynamics. However, the physical stability of the LE can substantially be improved with help of suitable emulsifiers that are capable of forming a mono- or multi-layer coating film around the dispersed liquid droplets in such a way to reduce interfacial tension or to increase droplet-droplet repulsion. Depending on the concentrations of these three components (oil-water-emulsifier) and the efficiency of the emulsification equipments used to reduce droplet size, the final LE may be in the form of oil-in-water (o/w), water-in-oil (w/o), micron, submicron and double or multiple emulsions (o/w/o and w/o/w). The o/w type LEs (LE) are colloidal drug carriers, which have various therapeutic applications. As an intravenous delivery system it incorporates lipophilic water non-soluble drugs, stabilize drugs that tend to undergo hydrolysis and reduce side effects of various potent drugs. When the LE is used as an ocular delivery systems they increase local bioavailability, sustain the pharmacological effect of drugs and decrease systemic side effects of the drugs. Thus, the rationale of using LE as an integral part of effective treatment is clear. Following administration of LE through these routes, the biofate of LE associated bioactive molecules are somehow related to the vehicles disposition kinetics inside blood or eyeball. However, the LE is not devoid from undergoing various bio-process while exerting their efficacious actions. The purpose of this review is therefore to give an implication of LE for parenteral and ocular delivering systems.

  4. Extraction and LC determination of lysine clonixinate salt in water/oil microemulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pineros, I; Ballesteros, P; Lastres, J L

    2002-02-01

    A new reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography method has been developed and validated for the quantitative determination of lysine clonixinate salt in water/oil microemulsions. The mobile phase was acetonitrile-buffer phosphate pH 3.3. Detection was UV absorbance at 252 nm. The precision and accurately of the method were excellent. The established linearity range was 5-60 microg ml(-1) (r(2)=0.999). Microemulsions samples were dispersed with chloroform and extracted lysine clonixinate salt with water. This easy method employing chloroformic extraction has been done three times. The recovery of lysine clonixinate salt from spiked placebo and microemulsion were >90% over the linear range.

  5. Bioavailability of chemically-dispersed crude oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, B.C.; Bonner, J.S.; McDonald, T.J.; Fuller, C.B.; Page, C.A.; Dimitriou-Christidis, P.; Sterling, M.C.; Autenrieth, R.L.

    2002-01-01

    Oil spills can be treated with surfactant compounds to disperse them. This method enables the hydrophobic compounds to overcome their repulsion for water, enter the water phase and be diluted. Once in the water, the biodegradation fraction of the oil biodegrades over time and the residual fraction is deposited over a large area. One major issue which is not fully understood is whether oil compounds pass through the water phase to free floating cells or directly enter oil-attached microbial cells from the oil particle. In this study, crude oil was placed in a swirling flask with Corpus Christi Bay water and was then chemically dispersed with Corexit 9500. The biodegradation was then monitored and assessed. First order rate coefficients were determined based on the disappearance of specific compounds. The rate coefficients for total target PAHs were consistent for all tests. Napthalene, phenanthrene, dibenzothiophene and their alkylated homologs were among the target compounds. The trend was also observed for total target analytes and for total target saturates. The results indicate that the biodegradation rate coefficient was not dependent on the bulk concentration of oil in the water column. It was concluded that biodegradation rates was controlled by partitioning of the compounds between the two phases, and other factors such as particle size distribution and the capability of the microbial culture, temperature and nutrients. 13 refs., 1 tab., 6 figs

  6. Mass transfer of H2O between petroleum and water: implications for oil field water sample quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCartney, R.A.; Ostvold, T.

    2005-01-01

    Water mass transfer can occur between water and petroleum during changes in pressure and temperature. This process can result in the dilution or concentration of dissolved ions in the water phase of oil field petroleum-water samples. In this study, PVT simulations were undertaken for 4 petroleum-water systems covering a range of reservoir conditions (80-185 o C; 300-1000 bar) and a range of water-petroleum mixtures (volume ratios of 1:1000-300:1000) to quantify the extent of H 2 O mass transfer as a result of pressure and temperature changes. Conditions were selected to be relevant to different types of oil field water sample (i.e. surface, downhole and core samples). The main variables determining the extent of dilution and concentration were found to be: (a) reservoir pressure and temperature, (b) pressure and temperature of separation of water and petroleum, (c) petroleum composition, and (d) petroleum:water ratio (PWR). The results showed that significant dilution and concentration of water samples could occur, particularly at high PWR. It was not possible to establish simple guidelines for identifying good and poor quality samples due to the interplay of the above variables. Sample quality is best investigated using PVT software of the type used in this study. (author)

  7. Effect of Oil Hydrophobicity on the Adsorption and Rheology of β-Lactoglobulin at Oil-Water Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bergfreund, Jotam; Bertsch, Pascal; Kuster, Simon; Fischer, Peter

    2018-04-24

    The adsorption of protein layers at oil-water interfaces is critical to the formation and stability of various emulsions in, for example, technical applications as well as in biological lipid storage. Effects of ionic strength, pH, temperature, and pretreatments of the proteins are well-known. However, the oil phase has been regarded as exchangeable and its role in protein adsorption has been widely ignored. Herein, the influence of systematically selected oil interfaces of high purity on the formation and properties of β-lactoglobulin (β-lg) adsorption layers was evaluated. Droplet profile tensiometry and interfacial rheometry were employed to determine the adsorption kinetics and dilatational and interfacial shear moduli. We show that depending on the molecular size, flexibility, hydrophobicity, polarity, and polarizability of the oils, globular proteins adsorb distinctively. Stronger interactions of polar oils with the hydrophilic exterior of the native β-lg lead to decelerated protein unfolding. This results in lower surface pressures and slower formation of viscoelastic networks. In addition, polar oils interact stronger with the protein network by hydrophilic bonding and thereby act as softening agents. The observed effects of hydrophobic subphases on the adsorbed protein layers provide knowledge, which promotes higher reproducibility in rheological studies and precise tailoring of interfacial films for enhanced formation and stability of emulsions.

  8. Water control for enhanced oil recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cole, R.C.; Mody, B.; Pace, J.

    1981-11-01

    Gains in recovery efficiency in W. Texas oil and gas fields have been realized as a result of applying 4 different chemical processes, either singly or in combination. Each of the 4 chemical processes has been tailored to meet specific reservoir requirements. Complete plugging of high flow capacity channels can be accomplished, and the high water production portion of a producing zone can be sealed by injection of gel-forming chemicals into the matrix. Both floodwater diversion and water-oil mobility ratio improvement can be attained by in situ polymerization of a one-stage polymer bank in the reservoir. In producing wells, the water-oil production ratio can be favorably changed by treating certain formulations with a nonplugging polymer which tends to restrict water flow but not oil. One feature which each of the 4 processes has in common is the ability to invade deeply into matrix which may produce long lasting results. A description of each process is presented with various placement techniques used to obtain optimum results. Data from fields which have benefited from these treatments are presented. The work describes what may be expected with each of these proven processes based on field results.

  9. EX8000 ramps up preparation phase in Horizon oil sands project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anon.

    2006-07-15

    This article presented details of Hitachi's EX8000 hydraulic shovel, a key piece of equipment that will be used throughout the extensive mine preparation phase of the Horizon oil sands project. Within 2 years, the project expects to produce over 200,000 barrels of oil per day. However, more than 400 million cubic metres of soil will need to be moved before production can begin. In order to remain on schedule, overburden must be removed in massive volumes. With a 52.3 cubic yard bucket, the Hitachi EX8000 has the capacity to feed a dozen 320 metric tonne haul trucks as well as several smaller 282 metric tonne trucks, and can fill each truck in 4 passes. Material is now being moved by to an area in which dikes are being constructed to house water generated in the refining process. Stockpiling, relocation and reclamation phases will follow as the project progresses. In order to reach the oil, as much as 75 feet of overburden must be removed, including layers of sandstone, limestone, trap rock and other materials. Once the overburden has been removed, oil sand layers are also often intermixed with other materials. The EX8000 can separate the tramp material from the oil sands, improving the overall efficiency of the operation. The Alberta-based North American Construction Group, who have a 10-year contract with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. for the Horizon project, owns more than 100 Hitachi units in various sizes and has already purchased another EX8000 which is slated for delivery in the Fall of 2006. It was concluded that the company has purchased hundreds of new trucks to handle added volumes of materials being moved as the oil sands industry gains momentum. 3 figs.

  10. An unusual and persistent contamination of drinking water by cutting oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rella, R; Sturaro, A; Parvoli, G; Ferrara, D; Doretti, L

    2003-02-01

    Drinking water contamination by materials, such as cutting oil, used to set up pipelines is an uncommon but possible event. This paper describes the analytical procedures used to identify the components of that contaminant in drinking water. Volatile and semi-volatile chemical species, responsible for an unpleasant taste and odour, were recognised by solid phase microextraction and GC/MS techniques. Among the volatile compounds, the presence of xylenes, bornyl acetate and diphenyl ether was confirmed by certificate standards and quantified in the most contaminated samples.

  11. Produced water: Market and global trends - oil production - water production - choice of technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robertson, Steve

    2006-01-01

    The presentation discusses various aspects of the world oil production, the energy demand, the future oil supply, the oil prices and the production growth. Some problems with produced water are also discussed as well as aspects of the market for produced water technology (tk)

  12. From oil-based mud to water-based mud

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christiansen, C.

    1991-01-01

    Maersk Olie og Gas AS has used low toxic oil-based muds extensively since 1982 for drilling development wells and later in the development of horizontal well drilling techniques. However, in view of the strong drive towards a reduction in the amount of oil discharged to the North Sea from the oil industry, Maersk Olie og Gas AS initiated trials with new or improved types of water-based mud, first in deviated wells (1989) and then in horizontal wells (1990). The paper reviews Maersk Olie og Gas As experience with oil-based mud since the drilling of the first horizontal well in 1987, specifically with respect to cuttings washing equipment, oil retention on cuttings, and the procedure for monitoring of this parameter. It describes the circumstances leading to the decision to revert to water-based mud systems. Finally, it reviews the experience gained so far with the new improved types of water-based mud systems, mainly glycol and KCl/polymer mud systems. Comparison of operational data, such as rate of penetration, torque and drag, etc., is made between wells drilled with oil-based mud and water-based mud. The trials with the new improved types of water-based mud systems have been positive, i.e. horizontal wells can be drilled successfully with water-based mud. As a result, Maersk Olie og and Gas AS has decided to discontinue the use of low toxic oil-based muds in the Danish sector of the North Sea

  13. Technology of ceramic and polymeric membranes for oil/water separation; Tecnologia de membranas ceramicas e polimericas para separacao oleo/agua

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, A.A; Souto, K.M; Silva, Adriano A.; Lira, H.L.; Carvalho, L.H.; Costa, A.C.F.M. [Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), PB (Brazil)

    2004-07-01

    In last years, separation techniques by membranes and membranes grew of a laboratory simple tool for an industrial process with a considerable technical and commercial impact. Today, membranes have been being widely used in the treatment of the oily/water, because they offer chemical, thermal resistance and resistance the pressure for a wide variety of alimentation terms. Membrane can be defined as a barrier that separates two phases and that restricts, total or partially, the transportation of one or several present chemical species in the phases. The morphology of the membrane and nature of the material that constitutes are some characteristics that are going to define application kind. The ideal structure for these filters is the asymmetric, formed by one or more layers of different pores size, with gradual reduction of the pores size, when approaches the side filtrate. Having in mind that the environmental legislations more process with membranes offers a new option to face these challenges. The membranes typically used in the oil and water separation act as a barrier for the emulsified oil and solubilization. In the petroleum production and refined oil water mixed with oil is prosecuted in great volumes in lots of processes, this mixture should be treated to separate the oil of water before it can return to the environment or even to be reused in the process. This review aims relate studies done with ceramic and polymeric membranes using a separation oil/water system mounted in laboratory scale in UFCG/CCT/ANP/PHH25. The results show that filtration membranes, micro filtration and ultrafiltration were very effective in oil/water separation. (author)

  14. Volume fraction calculation in multiphase system such as oil-water-gas using neutron

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramos, Robson; Brandao, Luis E.B.; Salgado, Cesar Marques; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A. [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)]. E-mails: robson@ien.gov.br; brandao@ien.gov.br; otero@ien.gov.br; cmnap@ien.gov.br; Schirru, Roberto; Silva, Ademir Xavier da [Universidade Federal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-graduacao de Engenharia. Programa de Engenharia Nuclear]. E-mails: schirru@lmp.ufrj.br; ademir@con.ufrj.br

    2007-07-01

    Multi-phase flows are common in diverse industrial sectors and the attainment of the volume fraction of each element that composes the flow system presents difficulties for the engineering process, therefore, to determine them is very important. In this work is presented methodology for determination of volume fractions in annular three-phase flow systems, such as oil-water-gas, based on the use of nuclear techniques and artificial intelligence. Using the principle of the fast-neutron transmission/scattering, come from an isotopic {sup 241}Am-Be source, and two point detectors, is gotten measured that they are influenced by the variations of the volume fractions of each phase present in the flow. An artificial neural network is trained to correlate such measures with the respective volume fractions. In order to get the data for training of the artificial neural network without necessity to carry through experiments, MCNP-X code is used, that simulates computational of the neutrons transport. The methodology is sufficiently advantageous, therefore, allows to develop a measurement system capable to determine the fractions of the phases (oil-water-gas), with proper requirements of each petroliferous installation and with national technology contributing, possibly, with reduction of costs and increase of productivity. (author)

  15. Volume fraction calculation in multiphase system such as oil-water-gas using neutron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramos, Robson; Brandao, Luis E.B.; Salgado, Cesar Marques; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A.; Schirru, Roberto; Silva, Ademir Xavier da

    2007-01-01

    Multi-phase flows are common in diverse industrial sectors and the attainment of the volume fraction of each element that composes the flow system presents difficulties for the engineering process, therefore, to determine them is very important. In this work is presented methodology for determination of volume fractions in annular three-phase flow systems, such as oil-water-gas, based on the use of nuclear techniques and artificial intelligence. Using the principle of the fast-neutron transmission/scattering, come from an isotopic 241 Am-Be source, and two point detectors, is gotten measured that they are influenced by the variations of the volume fractions of each phase present in the flow. An artificial neural network is trained to correlate such measures with the respective volume fractions. In order to get the data for training of the artificial neural network without necessity to carry through experiments, MCNP-X code is used, that simulates computational of the neutrons transport. The methodology is sufficiently advantageous, therefore, allows to develop a measurement system capable to determine the fractions of the phases (oil-water-gas), with proper requirements of each petroliferous installation and with national technology contributing, possibly, with reduction of costs and increase of productivity. (author)

  16. An Experimental Study of Oil / Water Flow in Horizontal Pipes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elseth, Geir

    2001-07-01

    The purpose of this thesis is to study the behaviour of the simultaneous flow of oil and water in horizontal pipes. In this connection, two test facilities are used. Both facilities have horizontal test sections with inner pipe diameters equal to 2 inches. The largest facility, called the model oil facility, has reservoirs of 1 m{sub 3} of each medium enabling flow rates as high as 30 m{sub 3}/h, which corresponds to mixture velocities as high as 3.35 m/s. The flow rates of oil and water can be varied individually producing different flow patterns according to variations in mixture velocity and input water cut. Two main classes of flows are seen, stratified and dispersed. In this facility, the main focus has been on stratified flows. Pressure drops and local phase fractions are measured for a large number of flow conditions. Among the instruments used are differential pressure transmitters and a traversing gamma densitometer, respectively. The flow patterns that appear are classified in flow pattern maps as functions of either mixture velocity and water cut or superficial velocities. From these experiments a smaller number of stratified flows are selected for studies of velocity and turbulence. A laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) is applied for these measurements in a transparent part of the test section. To be able to produce accurate measurements a partial refractive index matching procedure is used. The other facility, called the matched refractive index facility, has a 0.2 m{sub 3} reservoir enabling mainly dispersed flows. Mixture velocities range from 0.75 m/s to 3 m/s. The fluids in this facility are carefully selected to match the refractive index of the transparent part of the test section. A full refractive index matching procedure is carried out producing excellent optical conditions for velocity and turbulence studies by LDA. In addition, pressure drops and local phase fractions are measured. (author)

  17. Nanoscale characteristics of triacylglycerol oils: phase separation and binding energies of two-component oils to crystalline nanoplatelets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDougall, Colin J; Razul, M Shajahan; Papp-Szabo, Erzsebet; Peyronel, Fernanda; Hanna, Charles B; Marangoni, Alejandro G; Pink, David A

    2012-01-01

    Fats are elastoplastic materials with a defined yield stress and flow behavior and the plasticity of a fat is central to its functionality. This plasticity is given by a complex tribological interplay between a crystalline phase structured as crystalline nanoplatelets (CNPs) and nanoplatelet aggregates and the liquid oil phase. Oil can be trapped within microscopic pores within the fat crystal network by capillary action, but it is believed that a significant amount of oil can be trapped by adsorption onto crystalline surfaces. This, however, remains to be proven. Further, the structural basis for the solid-liquid interaction remains a mystery. In this work, we demonstrate that the triglyceride liquid structure plays a key role in oil binding and that this binding could potentially be modulated by judicious engineering of liquid triglyceride structure. The enhancement of oil binding is central to many current developments in this area since an improvement in the health characteristics of fat and fat-structured food products entails a reduction in the amount of crystalline triacylglycerols (TAGs) and a relative increase in the amount of liquid TAGs. Excessive amounts of unbound, free oil, will lead to losses in functionality of this important food component. Engineering fats for enhanced oil binding capacity is thus central to the design of more healthy food products. To begin to address this, we modelled the interaction of triacylglycerol oils, triolein (OOO), 1,2-olein elaidin (OOE) and 1,2-elaidin olein (EEO) with a model crystalline nanoplatelet composed of tristearin in an undefined polymorphic form. The surface of the CNP in contact with the oil was assumed to be planar. We considered pure OOO and mixtures of OOO + OOE and OOO + EEO with 80% OOO. The last two cases were taken as approximations to high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO). The intent was to investigate whether phase separation on a nanoscale took place. We defined an "oil binding capacity" parameter, B

  18. A new generation of models for water-in-oil emulsion formation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fingas, M.

    2009-01-01

    Water-in-oil emulsions form after oil or petroleum products are spilled, and can make the cleanup of oil spills difficult. This paper discussed new modelling schemes designed for the formation of water-in-oil emulsions. Density, viscosity, asphaltene and resin contents were used to compute a class index for unstable, entrained water-in-oil states, meso-stable, or stable emulsions. Prediction schemes were used to estimate the water content and viscosity of the water-in-oil states and the time to formation with wave height inputs. A numerical values was used for each type of water-in-oil type. The properties of the starting oil were correlated with the numerical scheme. New regressions were then performed using a Gaussian-style regression expansion technique. Data obtained from the models suggested that water-in-oil types are stabilized by both asphaltenes and resins. The optimized model was then compared with earlier models. The study showed that the new model has the capacity to accurately predict oil-in-water types approximately 90 per cent of the time using only resin, saturate, asphaltene, viscosity, and density data. 17 refs., 8 tabs., 8 figs

  19. Microflow Mechanism of Oil Displacement by Viscoelastic Hydrophobically Associating Water-Soluble Polymers in Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huiying Zhong

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Polymer flooding plays an important role in enhanced oil recovery (EOR, particularly in China, where partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM and hydrophobically associating water-soluble polymers (HAWP are used in onshore and offshore reservoirs, respectively. Many researchers have highlighted the elasticity of HPAM, which can be used to improve the sweep efficiency, i.e., the ratio of the area swept by an injected fluid to the oil area. On the other hand, fewer studies exist on the elasticity of HAWP. In this study, we investigate the flow of HAWP and Xanthan solutions with identical viscosities in core experiments in terms of elasticity; results reveal that the HAWP can produce shear thickening in the core. The constitutive equation for the HAWP can be obtained using the simulation results matched with the experimental data. On the basis of these experiments, we established a two-phase flow model of a polymer and oil, including the continuity, momentum, constitutive, and phase equations. The volume-of-fluid (VOF method was used to track the interface between the two phases. A complex pore model was established based on the glass-etched model used in the experiment. We used the OpenFOAM platform to solve the mathematical model. The saturation, pressure, and stress tensor distributions were obtained. The results show that the displacement efficiency increased as the elasticity of the polymer increased; accordingly, the elasticity can enlarge the sweep area and decrease the residual oil saturation. As the elasticity increases, the stresses (the first normal stress, second normal stress, and shear stress increase. Finally, the results obtained in this study can be used as a guideline in polymer design, screening, and optimization in the polymer flooding oilfields.

  20. COMPARISON OF PHYSICAL STABILITY PROPERTIES OF POMEGRANATE SEED OIL NANOEMULSION DOSAGE FORMS WITH LONG-CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDE AND MEDIUM-CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDE AS THE OIL PHASE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sri Hartanti Yuliani

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Pomegranate seed oil has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and chemo preventive activities. Pomegranate seed oil is lipophilic substance suitable to be prepared in emulsion dosage forms. Long-chain triglyceride (LCT and medium-chain triglyceride (MCT are commonly used as oil phase in emulsion dosage forms. This research aimed to compare the use of LCT and MCT in the Nano emulsion formula of pomegranate seed oil dosage forms. Formulation of pomegranate seed oil Nano emulsion was conducted using high energy emulsification. Parameters observed were pH, Nano emulsion type, percent transmittance, viscosity, turbidity, and droplet size before and after 3 cycles of freeze-thaw. The result showed that there was no significant difference between physical properties of pomegranate oil Nano emulsion with LCT as oil phase and pomegranate oil Nano emulsion with MCT as oil phase. Moreover, physical stability of pomegranate oil Nano emulsion with LCT as oil phase was better than pomegranate oil Nano emulsion with MCT as oil phase.

  1. Selective separation of oil and water with mesh membranes by capillarity

    KAUST Repository

    Yu, Yuanlie; Chen, Hua; Liu, Yun; Craig, Vincent S.J.; Lai, Zhiping

    2016-01-01

    The separation of oil and water from wastewater generated in the oil-production industries, as well as in frequent oil spillage events, is important in mitigating severe environmental and ecological damage. Additionally, a wide arrange of industrial processes require oils or fats to be removed from aqueous systems. The immiscibility of oil and water allows for the wettability of solid surfaces to be engineered to achieve the separation of oil and water through capillarity. Mesh membranes with extreme, selective wettability can efficiently remove oil or water from oil/water mixtures through a simple filtration process using gravity. A wide range of different types of mesh membranes have been successfully rendered with extreme wettability and applied to oil/water separation in the laboratory. These mesh materials have typically shown good durability, stability as well as reusability, which makes them promising candidates for an ever widening range of practical applications. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

  2. Selective separation of oil and water with mesh membranes by capillarity

    KAUST Repository

    Yu, Yuanlie

    2016-05-29

    The separation of oil and water from wastewater generated in the oil-production industries, as well as in frequent oil spillage events, is important in mitigating severe environmental and ecological damage. Additionally, a wide arrange of industrial processes require oils or fats to be removed from aqueous systems. The immiscibility of oil and water allows for the wettability of solid surfaces to be engineered to achieve the separation of oil and water through capillarity. Mesh membranes with extreme, selective wettability can efficiently remove oil or water from oil/water mixtures through a simple filtration process using gravity. A wide range of different types of mesh membranes have been successfully rendered with extreme wettability and applied to oil/water separation in the laboratory. These mesh materials have typically shown good durability, stability as well as reusability, which makes them promising candidates for an ever widening range of practical applications. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

  3. Transdermal delivery of diclofenac using water-in-oil microemulsion: formulation and mechanistic approach of drug skin permeation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thakkar, Priyanka J; Madan, Parshotam; Lin, Senshang

    2014-05-01

    The objective of the present investigation was to enhance skin permeation of diclofenac using water-in-oil microemulsion and to elucidate its skin permeation mechanism. The w/o microemulsion formulations were selected based on constructed pseudoternary phase diagrams depending on water solubilization capacity and thermodynamic stability. These formulations were also subjected to physical characterization based on droplet size, viscosity, pH and conductivity. Permeation of diclofenac across rat skin using side-by-side permeation cells from selected w/o microemulsion formulations were evaluated and compared with control formulations. The selected w/o microemulsion formulations were thermodynamically stable, and incorporation of diclofenac sodium into microemulsion did not affect the phase behavior of system. All microemulsion formulations had very low viscosity (11-17 cps) and droplet size range of 30-160 nm. Microemulsion formulations exhibited statistically significant increase in diclofenac permeation compared to oily solution, aqueous solution and oil-Smix solution. Higher skin permeation of diclofenac was observed with low Smix concentration and smaller droplet size. Increase in diclofenac loading in aqueous phase decreased the partition of diclofenac. Diclofenac from the oil phase of microemulsion could directly partition into skin, while diclofenac from the aqueous droplets was carried through skin by carrier effect.

  4. Produced water management - clean and safe oil and gas production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-01-01

    The conference contains 22 presentations on topics within pollution sources and abatement, discharge reductions, water analysis and monitoring, water production, treatment and injection, enhanced recovery, condensate water, produced water markets, separation technologies for oil/gas/condensate and water, oil removal from solids, environmental risks of oil and gas production and environmental impacts on ecosystems and fisheries. Some oil field case histories are presented. The main focus is on the northern areas such as the North Sea, the north Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, and technological aspects (tk)

  5. Produced water management - clean and safe oil and gas production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2006-07-01

    The conference contains 22 presentations on topics within pollution sources and abatement, discharge reductions, water analysis and monitoring, water production, treatment and injection, enhanced recovery, condensate water, produced water markets, separation technologies for oil/gas/condensate and water, oil removal from solids, environmental risks of oil and gas production and environmental impacts on ecosystems and fisheries. Some oil field case histories are presented. The main focus is on the northern areas such as the North Sea, the north Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, and technological aspects (tk)

  6. Suitability of olive oil washing water as an electron donor in a feed batch operating bio-electrochemical system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fermoso, F.G.; Fernández-Rodríguez, M.J.; Jiménez-Rodríguez, A.; Serrano, A.; Borja, R.

    2017-01-01

    Olive oil washing water derived from the two-phase manufacturing process was assessed as an electron donor in a bio-electrochemical system (BES) operating at 35 ºC. Start-up was carried out by using acetate as a substrate for the BES, reaching a potential of around +680 mV. After day 54, BES was fed with olive oil washing water. The degradation of olive oil washing water in the BES generated a maximum voltage potential of around +520 mV and a Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal efficiency of 41%. However, subsequent loads produced a decrease in the COD removal, while current and power density diminished greatly. The deterioration of these parameters could be a consequence of the accumulation of recalcitrant or inhibitory compounds, such as phenols. These results demonstrated that the use of olive oil washing water as an electron donor in a BES is feasible, although it has to be further investigated in order to make it more suitable for a real application. [es

  7. From water-in-oil to oil-in-water emulsions to optimize the production of fatty acids using ionic liquids in micellar systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, Luísa D F; Coutinho, João A P; Ventura, Sónia P M

    2015-01-01

    Biocatalysis is nowadays considered as one of the most important tools in green chemistry. The elimination of multiple steps involved in some of the most complex chemical synthesis, reducing the amounts of wastes and hazards, thus increasing the reaction yields and decreasing the intrinsic costs, are the major advantages of biocatalysis. This work aims at improving the enzymatic hydrolysis of olive oil to produce valuable fatty acids through emulsion systems formed by long alkyl chain ionic liquids (ILs). The optimization of the emulsion and the best conditions to maximize the production of fatty acids were investigated. The stability of the emulsion was characterized considering the effect of several parameters, namely, the IL and its concentration and different water/olive oil volumetric ratios. ILs from the imidazolium and phosphonium families were evaluated. The results suggest that the ILs effect on the hydrolysis performance varies with the water concentration and the emulsion system formed, that is, water-in-oil or oil-in-water emulsion. Although at low water concentrations, the presence of ILs does not present any advantages for the hydrolysis reaction, at high water contents (in oil-in-water emulsions), the imidazolium-based IL acts as an enhancer of the lipase catalytic capacity, super-activating 1.8 times the enzyme, and consequently promoting the complete hydrolysis of the olive oil for the highest water contents [85% (v/v)]. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  8. Oil-water separators for use in ships

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parry, G.; Nuttall, P.J.

    1978-11-04

    After ratification by the United Nations Assembly of the 15 ppm limit for the oil content in water discharges from ships, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, all oil separating systems used to treat cargo tank washings, oil-contaminated ballast water from double-bottom tanks, engineroom bilge water, or oily sludge from self-cleaning fuel oil purifiers, will be subjected to a stringent test procedure specified by IMCO. This specification requires the use of centrifugal supply pumps capable of discharging at 1.5 times the separator capacity and operating at over 1000 rpm. To meet the 15 ppm standards, filtration or coalescence equipment must be added to conventional single-stage static separators. Tests by Alexander Esplen and Co. Ltd. showed that a two-stage Comyn coagulator incorporating elements specially designed by Vokes Ltd. meets the IMCO requirements. Separator system control and maintenance problems are discussed.

  9. Distinct Interfacial Fluorescence in Oil-in-Water Emulsions via Exciton Migration of Conjugated Polymers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koo, Byungjin; Swager, Timothy M

    2017-09-01

    Commercial dyes are extensively utilized to stain specific phases for the visualization applications in emulsions and bioimaging. In general, dyes emit only one specific fluorescence signal and thus, in order to stain various phases and/or interfaces, one needs to incorporate multiple dyes and carefully consider their compatibility to avoid undesirable interactions with each other and with the components in the system. Herein, surfactant-type, perylene-endcapped fluorescent conjugated polymers that exhibit two different emissions are reported, which are cyan in water and red at oil-water interfaces. The interfacially distinct red emission results from enhanced exciton migration from the higher-bandgap polymer backbone to the lower-bandgap perylene endgroup. The confocal microscopy images exhibit the localized red emission exclusively from the circumference of oil droplets. This exciton migration and dual fluorescence of the polymers in different physical environments can provide a new concept of visualization methods in many amphiphilic colloidal systems and bioimaging. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Adsorption of phospholipids at oil/water interfaces during emulsification is controlled by stress relaxation and diffusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hildebrandt, Ellen; Nirschl, Hermann; Kok, Robbert Jan; Leneweit, Gero

    2018-05-16

    Adsorption of phosphatidylcholines at oil/water interfaces strongly deviates from spread monolayers at air/water surfaces. Understanding its nature and consequences could vastly improve applications in medical nanoemulsions and biotechnologies. Adsorption kinetics at interfaces of water with different oil phases were measured by profile analysis tensiometry. Adsorption kinetics for 2 different phospholipids, DPPC and POPC, as well as 2 organic phases, squalene and squalane, show that formation of interfacial monolayers is initially dominated by stress-relaxation in the first minutes. Diffusion only gradually contributes to a decrease in interfacial tension at later stages of time and higher film pressures. The results can be applied for the optimization of emulsification protocols using mechanical treatments. Emulsions using phospholipids with unsaturated fatty acids are dominated much more strongly by stress-relaxation and cover interfaces very fast compared to those with saturated fatty acids. In contrast, phospholipid layers consisting of saturated fatty acids converge faster towards the equilibrium than those with unsaturated fatty acids.

  11. Encapsulation of carotenoids extracted from halophilic Archaea in oil-in-water (O/W) micro- and nano-emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaari, Marwa; Theochari, Ioanna; Papadimitriou, Vassiliki; Xenakis, Aristotelis; Ammar, Emna

    2018-01-01

    Carotenoids extracted from halophilc Archaea have potential health benefits. Their poor water-solubility and low bioavailability is a challenge to their incorporation into foods. The aim of this work was the carotenoids encapsulation into two oil-in-water (O/W) dispersions, to increase their use as functional food applications. A nanoemulsion produced by high pressure homogenization and a spontaneously formed microemulsion were conceived. The limonene was the dispersed oil phase, and mixtures of Triton X-100/Tween-80 (3:1) as emulsifiers and of water/glycerol (2:1) as the continuous aqueous phase. The microemulsion monophasic area was determined through the pseudo-ternary phase diagram. Dynamic Light Scattering was used for the structural characterization of the nano- and micro-emulsions in the presence of the carotenoids. Moreover, the radical scavenging activity of the encapsulated carotenoids was examined by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy. The results confirmed the delivery systems design effectiveness to encapsulate and stabilize the carotenoids for food applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Deterpenation of eucalyptus essential oil by liquid + liquid extraction: Phase equilibrium and physical properties for model systems at T = 298.2 K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gonçalves, Daniel; Koshima, Cristina Chiyoda; Nakamoto, Karina Thiemi; Umeda, Thayla Karla; Aracava, Keila Kazue; Gonçalves, Cintia Bernardo; Rodrigues, Christianne Elisabete da Costa

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Fractionation of essential oil compounds. • Liquid + liquid equilibria of limonene, citronellal, ethanol and water were studied. • Distribution coefficients of limonene and citronellal were evaluated. • Densities and viscosities of the phases were experimentally determined. • Solvent selectivities and physical properties were dependent on citronellal and water mass fractions. -- Abstract: As the principal source in Brazil of eucalyptus essential oil extracts, Eucalyptus citriodora contains citronellal, an oxygenated compound responsible for the flavour characteristics. Deterpenation processes, consisting of the removal of terpenic hydrocarbons with the subsequent concentration of the oxygenated compounds, can be used to improve the aromatic characteristics of this essential oil. The purpose of this work was to perform a study of the technical feasibility of using a liquid + liquid extraction process to deterpenate eucalyptus essential oil. Model systems with various mixtures of limonene and citronellal (representing eucalyptus essential oil) as well as solvent (ethanol with various water mass fractions) were used to obtain liquid + liquid equilibrium data. The raffinate and extract phases were also analyzed to characterize the physical properties (density and viscosity). The equilibrium data were used to adjust the NRTL and UNIQUAC parameters. Two empirical models, the simple mixing rule and the Grunberg–Nissan model, were evaluated for use in the descriptions of the densities and viscosities, respectively, of the samples. Increasing the water content in the solvent resulted in decreases in the limonene and citronellal distribution coefficients, with consequential increases in the solvent selectivity values. Increasing values of the densities and viscosities, especially for the solvent-rich phases, were associated with systems using high amounts of hydrated ethanolic solvents

  13. Mitigating oil spills in the water column

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barry, Edward; Libera, Joseph A.; Mane, Anil University; Avila, Jason R.; DeVitis, David

    2017-01-01

    The scale and scope of uncontrolled oil spills can be devastating. Diverse marine environments and fragile ecologies are some of the most susceptible to the many ill effects, while the economic costs can be crippling. A notoriously difficult challenge with no known technological solution is the successful removal of oil dispersed in the water column. Here, we address this problem through cheap and reusable oil sorbents based on the chemical modification of polymer foams. Interfacial chemistry was optimized and subsequently tested in a simulated marine environment at the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility, Ohmsett. We find favorable performance for surface oil mitigation and, for the first time, demonstrate the advanced sorbent's efficiency and efficacy at pilot scale in extraction of crude oil and refined petroleum products dispersed in the water column. As a result, this is a potentially disruptive technology, opening a new field of environmental science focused on sub-surface pollutant sequestration.

  14. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and oxygenated PAH (OPAH) air-water exchange during the deepwater horizon oil spill.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tidwell, Lane G; Allan, Sarah E; O'Connell, Steven G; Hobbie, Kevin A; Smith, Brian W; Anderson, Kim A

    2015-01-06

    Passive sampling devices were used to measure air vapor and water dissolved phase concentrations of 33 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 22 oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs) at four Gulf of Mexico coastal sites prior to, during, and after shoreline oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH). Measurements were taken at each site over a 13 month period, and flux across the water-air boundary was determined. This is the first report of vapor phase and flux of both PAHs and OPAHs during the DWH. Vapor phase sum PAH and OPAH concentrations ranged between 1 and 24 ng/m(3) and 0.3 and 27 ng/m(3), respectively. PAH and OPAH concentrations in air exhibited different spatial and temporal trends than in water, and air-water flux of 13 individual PAHs were strongly associated with the DWH incident. The largest PAH volatilizations occurred at the sites in Alabama and Mississippi in the summer, each nominally 10,000 ng/m(2)/day. Acenaphthene was the PAH with the highest observed volatilization rate of 6800 ng/m(2)/day in September 2010. This work represents additional evidence of the DWH incident contributing to air contamination, and provides one of the first quantitative air-water chemical flux determinations with passive sampling technology.

  15. Anomalous dispersion of magnetic spiky particles for enhanced oil emulsions/water separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hui-Jiuan; Hang, Tian; Yang, Chengduan; Liu, Guishi; Lin, Di-An; Wu, Jiangming; Pan, Shuolin; Yang, Bo-Ru; Tao, Jun; Xie, Xi

    2018-01-25

    In situ effective separation of oil pollutants including oil spills and oil emulsions from water is an emerging technology yet remains challenging. Hydrophobic micro- or nano-materials with ferromagnetism have been explored for oil removal, yet the separation efficiency of an oil emulsion was compromised due to the limited dispersion of hydrophobic materials in water. A surfactant coating on microparticles prevented particle aggregation, but reduced oil absorption and emulsion cleaning ability. Recently, polystyrene microbeads covered with nanospikes have been reported to display anomalous dispersion in phobic media without surfactants. Inspired by this phenomenon, here magnetic microparticles attached with nanospikes were fabricated for enhanced separation of oil emulsions from water. In this design, the particle surfaces were functionalized to be superhydrophobic/superoleophilic for oil absorption, while the surface of the nanospikes prevented particle aggregation in water without compromising surface hydrophobicity. The magnetic spiky particles effectively absorbed oil spills on the water surface, and readily dispersed in water and offered facile cleaning of the oil emulsion. In contrast, hydrophobic microparticles without nanospikes aggregated in water limiting the particle-oil contact, while surfactant coating severely reduced particle hydrophobicity and oil absorption ability. Our work provides a unique application scope for the anomalous dispersity of microparticles and their potential opportunities in effective oil-water separation.

  16. Tweens demulsification effects on heavy crude oil/water emulsion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nastaran Hayati Roodbari

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The demulsification role of Tweens (nonionic polymers was determined in the separation of water from heavy crude oil emulsion. According to the previous researches, these nonionic polymers, having hydrophilic and lipophilic groups, are appropriate for making oil in water emulsion. In this research their effects in certain concentrations on demulsifying of water in crude oil emulsion were proved. High molecular weight, alkenes’ chains and groups of ketone and ester in these polymers can improve their performance for the demulsification of water in crude oil emulsion. Their efficiencies are improved with electronegative groups such as oxygen. They leave no corrosion effect because they are neutral and do not leave counter ions.

  17. Partitioning of fresh crude oil between floating, dispersed and sediment phases: Effect of exposure order to dispersant and granular materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boglaienko, Daria; Tansel, Berrin

    2016-06-15

    When three or more high and low energy substrates are mixed, wetting order can significantly affect the behavior of the mixture. We analyzed the phase distribution of fresh floating Louisiana crude oil into dispersed, settled and floating phases depending on the exposure sequence to Corexit 9500A (dispersant) and granular materials. In the experiments artificial sea water at salinity 34‰ was used. Limestone (2.00-0.300 mm) and quartz sand (0.300-0.075 mm) were used as the natural granular materials. Dispersant Corexit 9500A increased the amount of dispersed oil up to 33.76 ± 7.04%. Addition of granular materials after the dispersant increased dispersion of oil to 47.96 ± 1.96%. When solid particles were applied on the floating oil before the dispersant, oil was captured as oil-particle aggregates and removed from the floating layer. However, dispersant addition led to partial release of the captured oil, removing it from the aggregated form to the dispersed and floating phases. There was no visible oil aggregation with the granular materials when quartz or limestone was at the bottom of the flask before the addition of oil and dispersant. The results show that granular materials can be effective when applied from the surface for aggregating or dispersing oil. However, the granular materials in the sediments are not effective neither for aggregating nor dispersing floating oil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Numerical modeling of oil spills in continental and estuarine waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goeury, C.

    2012-10-01

    The application of the European Water Framework Directive on water quality for human consumption and industrial activities creates a need for water quality assessment and monitoring systems. The MIGR'HYCAR research project (http://www.migrhycar.com) was initiated to provide decisional tools for risks connected to oil spills in continental waters (rivers, lakes and estuaries), which represent more than 50% of accidental spills in France. Within the framework of this project, a new numerical oil spill model has been developed, as part of the TELEMAC hydro-informatics system (http://www.opentelemac.org), by combining Lagrangian and Eulerian methods. The Lagrangian model describes the transport of an oil spill near the free surface. The oil spill model enables to simulate the main processes driving oil plumes: advection, diffusion, oil beaching, oil re-floating, evaporation, dissolution, spreading and volatilization. Though generally considered as a minor process, dissolution is important from the point of view of toxicity. To model dissolved oil in water, an Eulerian advection-diffusion model is used. The fraction of dissolved oil is represented by a passive tracer. This approach is able to follow dissolved hydrocarbons in the water column. Laboratory experiments were conducted to characterise the numerous kinetics of the processes listed above. In addition, meso-scale dynamic experiments in artificial channels and test cases derived from the literature are used to validate the numerical model. (author)

  19. The containment of heavy oil in flowing water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, H.M.; Goodman, R.H.; Nicholson, P.

    1992-01-01

    Viscous bitumen from Alberta oil sand deposits is diluted with a gas condensate before pipeline transport. Because of its unique properties, the diluent/bitumen mix (dilbit) may require novel containment and recovery techniques in the case of an accidental spill. Preliminary experiments were conducted in a large flowing water channel to determine whether several conventional containment devices could be utilized to trap weathered and emulsified dilbit and bitumen. These devices included a conventional river boom, a nylon fine-weave net, and a low-pressure bubble barrier. The behavior of the oil samples during boom failure was noted in order to understand more completely the mechanisms of failure. The river boom failed to hold viscous floating oil by vortex shedding at flows of under 0.25 m/s. A fine mesh net successfully trapped both floating and mid-channel neutrally buoyant oil but the retention time depends on the oil viscosity. The bubble barrier was not successful in trapping either floating viscous oil or neutrally buoyant oil. At low water velocities, the barrier was able to divert some oils but in an inconsistent manner. The results indicate that conventional barriers need improvement to be effective at higher water velocities and suggest that new concepts in containment should be considered. 9 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs

  20. Rheological characterization of gel-in-oil-in-gel type structured emulsions

    OpenAIRE

    Patel, Ashok; Dumlu, Pinar; Vermeir, Lien; Lewille, Benny; Lesaffer, Ans; Dewettinck, Koen

    2015-01-01

    We report the fabrication of multiple emulsions where both the enclosed and the external water phases are structured using a combination of two non-gelling biopolymers. Emulsions (with gelled inner water droplets and gelled water continuous phase) were created using a simple 'one-step' process where the oil phase (triglyceride oil and polyglycerol polyricinoleate) and the water phase (containing a combination of locust bean gum and carrageenan) were emulsified at an elevated temperature (70 d...

  1. Recovery of Palm Oil and Valuable Material from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch by Sub-critical Water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad Kurnin, Nor Azrin; Shah Ismail, Mohd Halim; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Izhar, Shamsul

    2016-01-01

    Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is one of the solid wastes produced in huge volume by palm oil mill. Whilst it still contains valuable oil, approximately 22.6 million tons is generated annually and treated as solid waste. In this work, sub-critical water (sub-cw) was used to extract oil, sugar and tar from spikelet of EFB. The spikelet was treated with sub-cw between 180-280°C and a reaction time of 2 and 5 minutes. The highest yield of oil was 0.075 g-oil/g-dry EFB, obtained at 240°C and reaction time of 5 minutes. Astonishingly, oil that was extracted through this method was 84.5% of that obtained through Soxhlet method using hexane. Yield of oil extracted was strongly affected by the reaction temperature and time. Higher reaction temperature induces the dielectric constant of water towards the non-polar properties of solvent; thus increases the oil extraction capability. Meanwhile, the highest yield of sugar was 0.20 g-sugar/g-dry EFB obtained at 220°C. At this temperature, the ion product of water is high enough to enable maximum sub-critical water hydrolysis reaction. This study showed that oil and other valuable material can be recovered using water at sub-critical condition, and most attractive without the use of harmful organic solvent.

  2. Oil-in-water emulsions as a delivery system for n-3 fatty acids in meat products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salminen, Hanna; Herrmann, Kurt; Weiss, Jochen

    2013-03-01

    The oxidative and physical stabilities of oil-in-water emulsions containing n-3 fatty acids (25 wt.% oil, 2.5 wt.% whey protein, pH 3.0 or pH 6.0), and their subsequent incorporation into meat products were investigated. The physical stability of fish oil emulsions was excellent and neither coalescence nor aggregation occurred during storage. Oxidative stability was better at pH 6.0 compared to pH 3.0 likely due to antioxidative continuous phase proteins. Incorporation of fish oil emulsions into pork sausages led to an increase in oxidation compared to sausages without the added fish oil emulsion. Confocal microscopy of pork sausages with fish oil emulsions revealed that droplets had coalesced in the meat matrix over time which may have contributed to the decreased oxidative stability. Results demonstrate that although interfacial engineering of n-3 fatty acids containing oil-in-water emulsions provides physical and oxidative stability of the base-emulsion, their incorporation into complex meat matrices is a non-trivial undertaking and products may incur changes in quality over time. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Closed Process of Shale Oil Recovery from Circulating Washing Water by Hydrocyclones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuan Huang

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The conventional oil recovery system in the Fushun oil shale retorting plant has a low oil recovery rate. A large quantity of fresh water is used in the system, thereby consuming a considerable amount of water and energy, as well as polluting the environment. This study aims to develop a closed process of shale oil recovery from the circulating washing water for the Fushun oil shale retorting plant. The process would increase oil yield and result in clean production. In this process, oil/water hydrocyclone groups were applied to decrease the oil content in circulating water and to simultaneously increase oil yield. The oil sludge was removed by the solid/liquid hydrocyclone groups effectively, thereby proving the smooth operation of the devices and pipes. As a result, the oil recovery rate has increased by 5.3 %, which corresponds to 230 tonnes a month.

  4. Radiotracer investigations in oil production and water injection wells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eapen, A.C.; Jain, S.K.; Kirti

    1977-01-01

    Injection of gamma emitting radiotracers into oil wells followed by logging provides information on several aspects such as the identification of zones of seepage of water in the water injection wells and also the location of source of water entering oil producting wells. The experience gained in the application of bromine-82 and rubidium-86 as radiotracers in such studies at the Ankleshwar and Kalol oil fields in Gujarat and Nazira in Assam has been briefly reported. (author)

  5. Oil flow in deep waters: comparative study between light oils and heavy oils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andreolli, Ivanilto [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2009-12-19

    Ultra deeper waters fields are being exploited due to technological development. Under this scenario, the flow design is accomplished through pipelines subjected to low temperature and high pressure. Moreover, these flow lines are usually long causing a fast fluid cooling, which may affect flow assurance in some cases. Problems during topsides production plant's restart might occur if the oil is viscous and even in steady state a significant different behavior can be noticed, if compared to a less viscous oil. A comparison between light and heavy oil through a case study with the objective to show some heavy oil flow particularities is the purpose of this paper. Permanent and transient analyses for a specific geometry are presented. The results showed that thermal and proper viscosity modeling are required for heavy oil flow, differently from that of light oil flow, due to the exponential viscosity dependence to temperature and because the predominant laminar regime. In addition, on heavier and heavier oil flow systems, it is essential to consider exportation system's restart. (author)

  6. Hydraulic Systems with Tap Water versus Bio-oils

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Conrad, Finn

    1997-01-01

    Deals with the advantages of using pure tap water hydraulics versus bio-oils for suiteable applications. Focus is in particular on food processing industry.......Deals with the advantages of using pure tap water hydraulics versus bio-oils for suiteable applications. Focus is in particular on food processing industry....

  7. Cosmetic emulsion from virgin olive oil: Formulation and bio ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Cosmetic emulsion from virgin olive oil: Formulation and bio-physical ... virgin olive oil was developed by entrapping it in the oily phase of oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion. ... The evaluation parameters consisted of color, smell, phase separation, ...

  8. Ship for the cleaning of water from oil, fuel oil, and other floating objects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nentvih, V

    1969-12-31

    The newly designed ship for the cleaning of water surface from floating pollution has its bow section built much lower than its main hull. A slanted platform leads to a channel guiding the water into a centrifuge which separates oil from water. Oil proceeds to a reservoir for reprocessing while water is discharged from the ship. A variable ballast controls the depth of submersion of the platform. The ship is equilibrated by means of a built-in air float.

  9. Water management challenges and perspective for surface oil sands operations in North Eastern Alberta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacKinnon, M.

    2009-01-01

    Oil sands waters has many sources, such as raw water inputs (import water and hydrologic waters); oil sands ore water such as formation water; and oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) such as produced water and released water from tailings. This presentation demonstrated the importance of water to oil sands operations and indicated how oil sands processing affects water quality. Water imports to meet oil sands needs is a topic of particular interest. Other topics that were presented included water properties changing during oil sands operations; tailings management and the effects on water quality; oil sands tailings and water management and the impact on water quality of the region; how oil sands processing affected water quality; and current tailings approach and proposed new tailings methods and the effects on water composition. Post extraction changes in OSPW and the potential impacts of engineered tailings were also discussed. It was concluded that water treatment options must meet water management objectives. figs.

  10. Selective retardation of perfume oil evaporation from oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by either surfactant or nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Binks, Bernard P; Fletcher, Paul D I; Holt, Benjamin L; Beaussoubre, Pascal; Wong, Kenneth

    2010-12-07

    We have used dynamic headspace analysis to investigate the evaporation rates of perfume oils from stirred oil-in-water emulsions into a flowing gas stream. We compare the behavior of an oil of low water solubility (limonene) and one of high water solubility (benzyl acetate). It is shown how the evaporation of an oil of low water solubility is selectively retarded and how the retardation effect depends on the oil volume fraction in the emulsion. We compare how the evaporation retardation depends on the nature of the adsorbed film stabilizing the emulsion. Surfactant films are less effective than adsorbed films of nanoparticles, and the retardation can be further enhanced by compression of the adsorbed nanoparticle films by preshrinking the emulsion drops.

  11. Phase separation of bio-oil produced by co-pyrolysis of corn cobs and polypropylene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Supramono, D.; Julianto; Haqqyana; Setiadi, H.; Nasikin, M.

    2017-11-01

    In co-pyrolysis of biomass-plastics, bio-oil produced contains both oxygenated and non-oxygenated compounds. High oxygen composition is responsible for instability and low heating value of bio-oil and high acid content for corrosiveness. Aims of the present work are to evaluate possibilities of achieving phase separation between oxygenated and non-oxygenated compounds in bio-oil using a proposed stirred tank reactor and to achieve synergistic effects on bio-oil yield and non-oxygenated compound layer yield. Separation of bio-oil into two layers, i.e. that containing oxygenated compounds (polar phase) and non-oxygenated compounds (non-polar phase) is important to obtain pure non-polar phase ready for the next processing of hydrogenation and used directly as bio-fuel. There has been no research work on co-pyrolysis of biomass-plastic considering possibility of phase separation of bio-oil. The present work is proposing a stirred tank reactor for co-pyrolysis with nitrogen injection, which is capable of tailoring co-pyrolysis conditions leading to low viscosity and viscosity asymmetry, which induce phase separation between polar phase and non-polar phase. The proposed reactor is capable of generating synergistic effect on bio-oil and non-polar yields as the composition of PP in feed is more than 25% weight in which non-polar layers contain only alkanes, alkenes, cycloalkanes and cycloalkenes.

  12. Limitation of the influx of formation water into oil wells. Ogranichenie pritoka plastovykh vod v neftyanye skvazhiny

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bulgakov, R.T.; Gazizov, A.Sh.; Gabdullin, R.G.; Yusupov, I.G.

    1976-01-01

    The problems of limiting the influx of water into oil wells are examined. On the basis of studies, systemization, and generalization of the reasons for the premature flooding of wells, the improvement of strata by polymer-cement solutions with consolidating liquid phases is considered. A detailed description is given of the technology and results of cementing well using solutions based on plugging cement and water-soluble phenol-formaldehyde resins of the TSD-9 type. Results are reported on the study of the properties of selective water-insulating substances based on acrylamide monomers and hydrolyzed polyacrylonitriles. Industrial testing of these materials is generalized. An economic evaluation is made of the efficiency of measures undertaken to prevent water influx into oil wells.

  13. Inspired by Stenocara Beetles: From Water Collection to High-Efficiency Water-in-Oil Emulsion Separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Xinjuan; Qian, Long; Yuan, Xianxia; Zhou, Cailong; Li, Zhaowen; Cheng, Jiang; Xu, Shouping; Wang, Shuangfeng; Pi, Pihui; Wen, Xiufang

    2017-01-24

    Inspired by the water-collecting mechanism of the Stenocara beetle's back structure, we prepared a superhydrophilic bumps-superhydrophobic/superoleophilic stainless steel mesh (SBS-SSM) filter via a facile and environmentally friendly method. Specifically, hydrophilic silica microparticles are assembled on the as-cleaned stainless steel mesh surface, followed by further spin-coating with a fluoropolymer/SiO 2 nanoparticle solution. On the special surface of SBS-SSM, attributed to the steep surface energy gradient, the superhydrophilic bumps (hydrophilic silica microparticles) are able to capture emulsified water droplets and collect water from the emulsion even when their size is smaller than the pore size of the stainless steel mesh. The oil portion of the water-in-oil emulsion therefore permeates through pores of the superhydrophobic/superoleophilic mesh coating freely and gets purified. We demonstrated an oil recovery purity up to 99.95 wt % for surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions on the biomimetic SBS-SSM filter, which is superior to that of the traditional superhydrophobic/superoleophilic stainless steel mesh (S-SSM) filter lacking the superhydrophilic bump structure. Together with a facile and environmentally friendly coating strategy, this tool shows great application potential for water-in-oil emulsion separation and oil purification.

  14. Auto Detection For High Level Water Content For Oil Well

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janier, Josefina Barnachea; Jumaludin, Zainul Arifin B.

    2010-06-01

    Auto detection of high level water content for oil well is a system that measures the percentage of water in crude oil. This paper aims to discuss an auto detection system for measuring the content of water level in crude oil which is applicable for offshore and onshore oil operations. Data regarding water level content from wells can be determined by using automation thus, well with high water level can be determined immediately whether to be closed or not from operations. Theoretically the system measures the percentage of two- fluid mixture where the fluids have different electrical conductivities which are water and crude oil. The system made use of grid sensor which is a grid pattern like of horizontal and vertical wires. When water occupies the space at the intersection of vertical and horizontal wires, an electrical signal is detected which proved that water completed the circuit path in the system. The electrical signals are counted whereas the percentage of water is determined from the total electrical signals detected over electrical signals provided. Simulation of the system using the MultiSIM showed that the system provided the desired result.

  15. Suitability of olive oil washing water as an electron donor in a feed batch operating bio-electrochemical system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. G. Fermoso

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Olive oil washing water derived from the two-phase manufacturing process was assessed as an electron donor in a bio-electrochemical system (BES operating at 35 ºC. Start-up was carried out by using acetate as a substrate for the BES, reaching a potential of around +680 mV. After day 54, BES was fed with olive oil washing water. The degradation of olive oil washing water in the BES generated a maximum voltage potential of around +520 mV and a Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD removal efficiency of 41%. However, subsequent loads produced a decrease in the COD removal, while current and power density diminished greatly. The deterioration of these parameters could be a consequence of the accumulation of recalcitrant or inhibitory compounds, such as phenols. These results demonstrated that the use of olive oil washing water as an electron donor in a BES is feasible, although it has to be further investigated in order to make it more suitable for a real application.

  16. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and Oxygenated PAH (OPAH) Air–Water Exchange during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Passive sampling devices were used to measure air vapor and water dissolved phase concentrations of 33 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 22 oxygenated PAHs (OPAHs) at four Gulf of Mexico coastal sites prior to, during, and after shoreline oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWH). Measurements were taken at each site over a 13 month period, and flux across the water–air boundary was determined. This is the first report of vapor phase and flux of both PAHs and OPAHs during the DWH. Vapor phase sum PAH and OPAH concentrations ranged between 1 and 24 ng/m3 and 0.3 and 27 ng/m3, respectively. PAH and OPAH concentrations in air exhibited different spatial and temporal trends than in water, and air–water flux of 13 individual PAHs were strongly associated with the DWH incident. The largest PAH volatilizations occurred at the sites in Alabama and Mississippi in the summer, each nominally 10 000 ng/m2/day. Acenaphthene was the PAH with the highest observed volatilization rate of 6800 ng/m2/day in September 2010. This work represents additional evidence of the DWH incident contributing to air contamination, and provides one of the first quantitative air–water chemical flux determinations with passive sampling technology. PMID:25412353

  17. Comparative toxicity test of water-accommodated fractions of oils and oil dispersants to marine organisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-01-01

    This reference method describes a simple procedure for comparing the toxicity of oil, oil dispersants, and mixtures thereof, to marine animals. It allows the toxicity of different dispersants to be rapidly compared to that of oil, or of a mixture of oil an oil dispersant. It is designed for routine monitoring and screening purposes and is not appropriate as a research method. The physical and chemical properties of oil dispersants create many difficulties in the measurements of their toxicity to marine organisms. Strictly speaking, their toxicity can only be accurately estimated using complex procedures and apparatus. (A relatively simple apparatus for preparing oil/water or oil/water/oil dispersant emulsions is described in Appendix B). Simpler methods can provide useful information, provided their limitations are clearly understood and taken into consideration in the assessment and application of their results. Some of the special considerations relating to the measurement of the toxicity of oil and oil dispersants are described in Appendix A. The Appendix also explains the rationale and limitations of the method described here. 3 refs, 4 figs, 2 tabs

  18. Production of higher quality bio-oils by in-line esterification of pyrolysis vapor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilten, Roger Norris; Das, Keshav; Kastner, James R; Bibens, Brian P

    2014-12-02

    The disclosure encompasses in-line reactive condensation processes via vapor phase esterification of bio-oil to decease reactive species concentration and water content in the oily phase of a two-phase oil, thereby increasing storage stability and heating value. Esterification of the bio-oil vapor occurs via the vapor phase contact and subsequent reaction of organic acids with ethanol during condensation results in the production of water and esters. The pyrolysis oil product can have an increased ester content and an increased stability when compared to a condensed pyrolysis oil product not treated with an atomized alcohol.

  19. Diverse bacteria isolated from microtherm oil-production water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Ji-Quan; Xu, Lian; Zhang, Zhao; Li, Yan; Tang, Yue-Qin; Wu, Xiao-Lei

    2014-02-01

    In total, 435 pure bacterial strains were isolated from microtherm oil-production water from the Karamay Oilfield, Xinjiang, China, by using four media: oil-production water medium (Cai medium), oil-production water supplemented with mineral salt medium (CW medium), oil-production water supplemented with yeast extract medium (CY medium), and blood agar medium (X medium). The bacterial isolates were affiliated with 61 phylogenetic groups that belong to 32 genera in the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. Except for the Rhizobium, Dietzia, and Pseudomonas strains that were isolated using all the four media, using different media led to the isolation of bacteria with different functions. Similarly, nonheme diiron alkane monooxygenase genes (alkB/alkM) also clustered according to the isolation medium. Among the bacterial strains, more than 24 % of the isolates could use n-hexadecane as the sole carbon source for growth. For the first time, the alkane-degrading ability and alkB/alkM were detected in Rhizobium, Rhodobacter, Trichococcus, Micrococcus, Enterococcus, and Bavariicoccus strains, and the alkM gene was detected in Firmicutes strains.

  20. Electrocoagulation with polarity switch for fast oil removal from oil in water emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gobbi, Lorena C A; Nascimento, Izabela L; Muniz, Eduardo P; Rocha, Sandra M S; Porto, Paulo S S

    2018-05-01

    An electrocoagulation technique using a 3.5 L reactor, with aluminum electrodes in a monopolar arrangement with polarity switch at each 10 s was used to separate oil from synthetic oily water similar in oil concentration to produced water from offshore platforms. Up to 98% of oil removal was achieved after 20 min of processing. Processing time dependence of the oil removal and pH was measured and successfully adjusted to exponential models, indicating a pseudo first order behavior. Statistical analysis was used to prove that electrical conductivity and total solids depend significantly on the concentration of electrolyte (NaCl) in the medium. Oil removal depends mostly on the distance between the electrodes but is proportional to electrolyte concentration when initial pH is 8. Electrocoagulation with polarity switch maximizes the lifetime of the electrodes. The process reduced oil concentration to a value below that stipulated by law, proving it can be an efficient technology to minimize the offshore drilling impact in the environment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Analysis of method of polarization surveying of water surface oil pollution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhukov, B. S.

    1979-01-01

    A method of polarization surveying of oil films on the water surface is analyzed. Model calculations of contrasted oil and water obtained with different orientations of the analyzer are discussed. The model depends on the spectral range, water transparency and oil film, and the selection of observational direction.

  2. Turbidity and oil removal from oilfield produced water, middle oil company by electrocoagulation technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed Thamer

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Huge quantity of produced water is salty water trapped in the oil wells rock and brought up along with oil or gas during production. It usually contains hydrocarbons as oil and suspended solids or turbidity. Therefore the aim of this study is to treat produced water before being discharge to surface water or re injected in oil wells. In this paper experimental results were investigated on treating produced water (which is obtained from Middle Oil Company-Iraq, through electrocoagulation (EC. The performance of EC was investigated for reduction of turbidity and oil content up to allowable limit. Effect of different parameters were studied; (pH, current density, distance between two electrodes, and electrolysis time. The experimental runs carried out by an electrocoagulation unit was assembled and installed in the lab and the reactor was made of a material Perspex, with a capacity of approximately 2.5 liters and dimensions were 20 cm in length, 14 cm in width and 16 cm height. The electrodes employed were made of commercial materials. The anode was a perforated aluminum rectangular plate with a thickness of 1.72 mm, a height of 60 mm and length of 140 mm and the cathode was a mesh iron. The current was used in the unit with different densities to test the turbidity removing efficiency (0.0025, 0.00633, 0.01266 and 0.0253 A/cm2.The experiment showed that the best turbidity removing was (10, 9.7, 9.2, 18 NTU respectively. The distance between the electrodes of the unit was 3cm. The present turbidity removing was 92.33%. A slight improvement of turbidity removing was shown when the distance between the electrodes was changed from 0.5 to 3 cm with fixation of current density. The best turbidity removing was 93.5% , (7.79 NTU when the distance between the electrodes were 1 cm. The experimental results found that concentration of oil had decreased to (10.7, 11.2, 11.7, 12.3 mg/l when different current densities (0.00253, 0.00633, 0.01266, 0.0253 A/cm2

  3. A multi-stage oil-water-separating process design for the sea oil spill recovery robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Min-ge; Wu, Jian-guo; Lin, Xinhua; Wang, Xiao-ming

    2018-03-01

    Oil spill have the most common pollution to the marine ecological environment. In the late stage of physical method recovery, because of the thin oil and the strong sea breeze, the recovery vessels has low efficiency and high energy consumption. This paper develops a multi-stage oil-water-separating process carried by the sea oil spill recovery robot in severe conditions. This design consists of three separation process, among which both the first and third process adopt corrugated sheets horizontal oil-water separator, while the second is hydraulic rotary breaker. This design also equiptment with rectifier and cyclone separator and other important components. This process has high flexibility and high recovery efficiency. The implement effect is significant.

  4. Development of a centrifugal in-line separator for oil-water flows

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Slot, J.J.

    2013-01-01

    The world energy consumption will increase in the next decades. However, many aging oil fields are showing a steady decline in oil production. And they are producing increasing amounts of water, making the separation of the oil from the oil-water mixture an important processing step. In-line

  5. Production of monodispersed Oil-in Water Emulsion Using Crossflow-Type Silicon Microchannel Plate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kawakatsu, Takahiro.; Komori, Hideaki.; Yonemoto, Toshikuni. [Tohoku University, Miyagi (Japan). Chemical Engineering Department; Nakajima, Mitsutoshi.; Kikuchi, Yuji. [National Food Research Institute, Ibaraki (Japan)

    1999-04-01

    A novel method for continuous productin of monodispersed oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion is developed using acrossflow-type silicaon microchannel plate. On the single crystal silicon plate, a liquid flow path for continuous phase was made, and at each side of th wall of the path an array of regular-sized slits was precisely fabricated. A flat glass plate was tightly attached on the microchannel plate to cover the top of the slits to form the array of microchannels. Regular-sized oil (triolein) droplets were generated by squeezing the oil through the microchannels into the continuous-phase water (0.3 wt% sodium lauryl sulfate solutin) flowing in the liquid path. Oil droplet size is significantly dependent on the microchannel structure, which is identified with the microchannel width, height, and the length of the terrace (a flat area at the microchannel outlet). Three types of microchannel plates having different microchannel structures generate monodispersed emulsions of different average droplet sizes, 16,20, and 48 {mu}m at the watr flow rate of 1.4x10{sup -2}mL{center_dot}min{sup -1}. For the microchannel plate which generates large droplets of 48 {mu}m, increasing the flow rate causes decreasing droplet size. However, for the microchannel plate which generates small droplets of 16 or 20 {mu}m, the size is not affected by the flow rate within the range from 1.4x10{sup -2}to 2.4 mL{center_dot}min{sup -1}. In every case, the droplet size distribution is narrow, and the geometric standard deviation is 1.03 or less. (author)

  6. Purification of water polluted with oil and sulfurous closed-ring and aromatic compounds contained in oil and oil products using bacteria relating to thiosphaera

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurashov, V.M.; Sakhno, T.V.; Gavrilov, V.S.; Zijatdinov, R.N.

    2005-01-01

    The intensity of natural purification (self-purification) of reservoirs polluted with oil and oil products is determined by microorganisms. Hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms are constant natural constituent of biocenose in reservoirs. However, as a result of outflows, the oil and oil products concentration exceeds maximum values allowing normal vital functions of microorganisms resulting in breaking micro-biocenose suppression of vital functions of bacteria. In this regard, elective anaerobic microorganisms of Thiosphaera are worthy of notice. We found out that bacteria belonging to Thiosphaera pantotropha decomposed oil at high oil concentrations in water (at oil concentration like 1 liter of oil in 1 liter of water). And this is when aerobic microorganisms lose their vital functions at maximum concentration of 20 g of oil in 1 liter of water. To intensify the process of oil decomposition we emulsified oil with aqueous solutions of salts. Thiosphaera pantotropha are found out to decompose oil in a wide range of ratio between oil and aqueous solutions of salts: from 1:10 to 10:1. The water solutions salinity made from 20 g/l to 80 g/l. It must be noticed that, since the Thiosphaera pantotropha are elective anaerobes and decompose oil both in presence and in absence of oxygen, it is not necessary anymore to conduct the process under strictly anaerobic conditions and to supply additional oxygen. This makes it possible to simplify the process of biodegradation of oil and to make this process practically more feasible and economically more profitable being compared to the processes based on the use of other species of bacteria. We found out that Thiosphaera decompose sulfurous closed-ring and aromatic compounds in oil which are chemically and thermally stable and can be hardly decomposed, and possess extremely poisonous properties, as well. The use of microorganisms of Thiosphaera pantotropha allows to purify waters polluted with oil and oil products both during

  7. Trace elements and radionuclides in palm oil, soil, water, and leaves from oil palm plantations: A review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olafisoye, O B; Oguntibeju, O O; Osibote, O A

    2017-05-03

    Oil palm (Elaeisguineensis) is one of the most productive oil producing plant in the world. Crude palm oil is composed of triglycerides supplying the world's need of edible oils and fats. Palm oil also provides essential elements and antioxidants that are potential mediators of cellular functions. Experimental studies have demonstrated the toxicity of the accumulation of significant amounts of nonessential trace elements and radionuclides in palm oil that affects the health of consumers. It has been reported that uptake of trace elements and radionuclides from the oil palm tree may be from water and soil on the palm plantations. In the present review, an attempt was made to revise and access knowledge on the presence of some selected trace elements and radionuclides in palm oil, soil, water, and leaves from oil palm plantations based on the available facts and data. Existing reports show that the presence of nonessential trace elements and radionuclides in palm oil may be from natural or anthropogenic sources in the environment. However, the available literature is limited and further research need to be channeled to the investigation of trace elements and radionuclides in soil, water, leaves, and palm oil from oil palm plantations around the globe.

  8. Collagen and hyaluronic acid hydrogel in water-in-oil microemulsion delivery systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kupper, Sylwia; Kłosowska-Chomiczewska, Ilona; Szumała, Patrycja

    2017-11-01

    The increase in skin related health issues has promoted interest in research on the efficacy of microemulsion in dermal and transdermal delivery of active ingredients. Here, we assessed the water-in-oil microemulsion capacity to incorporate two natural polymers, i.e. collagen and hyaluronic acid with low and high molecular weight. Systems were extensively characterized in terms of conductivity, phase inversion studies, droplet diameter, polydispersity index and rheological properties. The results of this research indicate that the structure and extent of water phase in microemulsions is governed by ratio and amount of surfactant mixture (sorbitan ester derivatives). However, results have also shown that collagen, depending upon the weight of the molecule and its surface activity, influence the droplet size of the microemulsions. While the hyaluronic acid, especially with high molecular weight, due to the water-binding ability and hydrogel formation alters the rheological properties of the microemulsion, thus providing viscous consistency of the formulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Formation and stability of oil-in-water nanoemulsions containing rice bran oil: in vitro and in vivo assessments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rocha-Filho Pedro A

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Nanoemulsions have practical application in a multitude of commercial areas, such as the chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Cosmetic industries use rice bran oil in sunscreen formulations, anti ageing products and in treatments for skin diseases. The aim of this study was to create rice bran oil nanoemulsions using low energy emulsification methods and to evaluate their physical stability, irritation potential and moisturising activity on volunteers with normal and diseased skin types. Results The nanoemulsion developed by this phase diagram method was composed of 10% rice bran oil, 10% surfactants sorbitan oleate/PEG-30 castor oil, 0.05% antioxidant and 0.50% preservatives formulated in distilled water. The nanoemulsion was stable over the time course of this study. In vitro assays showed that this formulation has a low irritation potential, and when applied to human skin during in vivo studies, the nanoemulsion improved the skin's moisture and maintained normal skin pH values. Conclusion The results of irritation potential studies and in vivo assessments indicate that this nanoemulsion has potential to be a useful tool to treat skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis.

  10. [Near infrared spectroscopy study on water content in turbine oil].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Bin; Liu, Ge; Zhang, Xian-Ming

    2013-11-01

    Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with successive projections algorithm (SPA) was investigated for determination of water content in turbine oil. Through the 57 samples of different water content in turbine oil scanned applying near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, with the water content in the turbine oil of 0-0.156%, different pretreatment methods such as the original spectra, first derivative spectra and differential polynomial least squares fitting algorithm Savitzky-Golay (SG), and successive projections algorithm (SPA) were applied for the extraction of effective wavelengths, the correlation coefficient (R) and root mean square error (RMSE) were used as the model evaluation indices, accordingly water content in turbine oil was investigated. The results indicated that the original spectra with different water content in turbine oil were pretreated by the performance of first derivative + SG pretreatments, then the selected effective wavelengths were used as the inputs of least square support vector machine (LS-SVM). A total of 16 variables selected by SPA were employed to construct the model of SPA and least square support vector machine (SPA-LS-SVM). There is 9 as The correlation coefficient was 0.975 9 and the root of mean square error of validation set was 2.655 8 x 10(-3) using the model, and it is feasible to determine the water content in oil using near infrared spectroscopy and SPA-LS-SVM, and an excellent prediction precision was obtained. This study supplied a new and alternative approach to the further application of near infrared spectroscopy in on-line monitoring of contamination such as water content in oil.

  11. Magnetically driven floating foams for the removal of oil contaminants from water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calcagnile, Paola; Fragouli, Despina; Bayer, Ilker S; Anyfantis, George C; Martiradonna, Luigi; Cozzoli, P Davide; Cingolani, Roberto; Athanassiou, Athanassia

    2012-06-26

    In this study, we present a novel composite material based on commercially available polyurethane foams functionalized with colloidal superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and submicrometer polytetrafluoroethylene particles, which can efficiently separate oil from water. Untreated foam surfaces are inherently hydrophobic and oleophobic, but they can be rendered water-repellent and oil-absorbing by a solvent-free, electrostatic polytetrafluoroethylene particle deposition technique. It was found that combined functionalization of the polytetrafluoroethylene-treated foam surfaces with colloidal iron oxide nanoparticles significantly increases the speed of oil absorption. Detailed microscopic and wettability studies reveal that the combined effects of the surface morphology and of the chemistry of the functionalized foams greatly affect the oil-absorption dynamics. In particular, nanoparticle capping molecules are found to play a major role in this mechanism. In addition to the water-repellent and oil-absorbing capabilities, the functionalized foams exhibit also magnetic responsivity. Finally, due to their light weight, they float easily on water. Hence, by simply moving them around oil-polluted waters using a magnet, they can absorb the floating oil from the polluted regions, thereby purifying the water underneath. This low-cost process can easily be scaled up to clean large-area oil spills in water.

  12. Molecular dynamics study of water molecule diffusion in oil-paper insulation materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liao Ruijin; Zhu Mengzhao; Yang Lijun; Zhou Xin; Gong Chunyan

    2011-01-01

    Moisture is an important factor that influences the safe operation of transformers. In this study, molecular dynamics was employed to investigate the diffusion behavior of water molecules in the oil-paper insulation materials of transformers. Two oil-cellulose models were built. In the first model, water molecules were initially distributed in oil, and in the second model, water molecules were distributed in cellulose. The non-bonding energies of interaction between water molecules and oil, and between water molecules and cellulose, were calculated by the Dreiding force field. The interaction energy was found to play a dominant role in influencing the equilibrium distribution of water molecules. The radial direction functions of water molecules toward oil and cellulose indicate that the hydrogen bonds between water molecules and cellulose are sufficiently strong to withstand the operating temperature of the transformer. Mean-square displacement analysis of water molecules diffusion suggests that water molecules initially distributed in oil showed anisotropic diffusion; they tended to diffuse toward cellulose. Water molecules initially distributed in cellulose diffused isotropically. This study provides a theoretical contribution for improvements in online monitoring of water in transformers, and for subsequent research on new insulation materials.

  13. Molecular dynamics study of water molecule diffusion in oil-paper insulation materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liao Ruijin [State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China); Zhu Mengzhao, E-mail: xiaozhupost@163.co [State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China); Yang Lijun; Zhou Xin; Gong Chunyan [State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044 (China)

    2011-03-01

    Moisture is an important factor that influences the safe operation of transformers. In this study, molecular dynamics was employed to investigate the diffusion behavior of water molecules in the oil-paper insulation materials of transformers. Two oil-cellulose models were built. In the first model, water molecules were initially distributed in oil, and in the second model, water molecules were distributed in cellulose. The non-bonding energies of interaction between water molecules and oil, and between water molecules and cellulose, were calculated by the Dreiding force field. The interaction energy was found to play a dominant role in influencing the equilibrium distribution of water molecules. The radial direction functions of water molecules toward oil and cellulose indicate that the hydrogen bonds between water molecules and cellulose are sufficiently strong to withstand the operating temperature of the transformer. Mean-square displacement analysis of water molecules diffusion suggests that water molecules initially distributed in oil showed anisotropic diffusion; they tended to diffuse toward cellulose. Water molecules initially distributed in cellulose diffused isotropically. This study provides a theoretical contribution for improvements in online monitoring of water in transformers, and for subsequent research on new insulation materials.

  14. The transport phase of pyrolytic oil exiting a fast fluidized bed reactor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daugaard, Daren Einar

    An unresolved and debated aspect in the fast pyrolysis of biomass is whether the bio-oil exits as a vapor or as an aerosol from the pyrolytic reactor. The determination of the bio-oil transport phase will have direct and significant impact on the design of fast pyrolysis systems. Optimization of both the removal of particulate matter and collection of bio-oil will require this information. In addition, the success of catalytic reforming of bio-oil to high-value chemicals will depend upon this transport phase. A variety of experimental techniques were used to identify the transport phase. Some tests were as simple as examining the catch of an inline filter while others attempted to deduce whether vapor or aerosol predominated by examining the pressure drop across a flow restriction. In supplementary testing, the effect of char on aerosol formation and the potential impact of cracking during direct contact filtering are evaluated. The study indicates that for pyrolysis of red oak approximately 90 wt-% of the collected bio-oil existed as a liquid aerosol. Conversely, the pyrolysis of corn starch produced bio-oil predominately in the vapor phase at the exit of the reactor. Furthermore, it was determined that the addition of char promotes the production of aerosols during pyrolysis of corn starch. Direct contact filtering of the product stream did not collect any liquids and the bio-oil yield was not significantly reduced indicating measurable cracking or coking did not occur.

  15. A self-cleaning underwater superoleophobic mesh for oil-water separation

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Lianbin

    2013-07-31

    Oil-water separation has recently become a global challenging task because of the frequent occurrence of oil spill accidents due to the offshore oil production and transportation, and there is an increasing demand for the development of effective and inexpensive approaches for the cleaning-up of the oily pollution in water system. In this study, a self-cleaning underwater superoleophobic mesh that can be used for oil-water separation is prepared by the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of sodium silicate and TiO2 nanoparticles on the stainless steel mesh. The integration of the self-cleaning property into the all-inorganic separation mesh by using TiO2 enables the convenient removal of the contaminants by ultraviolet (UV) illumination, and allows for the facile recovery of the separation ability of the contaminated mesh, making it promising for practial oil-water separation applications.

  16. Mitigation of Oil in Water Column: Mitigation Prototype Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-06-01

    designed with an open end to allow aquatic animals to escape. After the treated foam becomes saturated with submerged oil, the net would be lifted...needed openings to allow the frame to pass through the water column without causing severe drag resistance . However, this also allows oil to flow...to the water and should only help the regions of hypoxia caused by microbial degradation of the oil. However, the proposed field set up with

  17. Highly porous oil sorbent based on hollow fibers as the interceptor for oil on static and running water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dong, Ting [College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Cao, Shengbin [College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai 201306 (China); Xu, Guangbiao, E-mail: guangbiao_xu@dhu.edu.cn [College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Key Laboratory of Textile Science and Technology Ministry of Education, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China)

    2016-03-15

    Highlights: • Highly porous sorbent was made up of kapok and PET fibers. • The sorbent was prepared by air-laying-bonding method. • The sorbent showed much higher oil sorption capacity than 100% loose kapok fibers. • The sorbent showed high intercepting efficiency to oils on water. • The runing of water significantly accelerated the oil leakage. - Abstract: Highly porous fibrous assembly made by kapok and hollow PET fibers was prepared by the air-laying-bonding method, and used as the interceptor for oils on static and running water. SEM showed that the vast majority of kapok and PET fibers in the assembly was intact and retained their hollow lumens, with the assembly's porosity high to 98.03%. Oil sorption tests exhibited that kapok/PET assembly could absorb 63.00 g/g of vegetable oil and 58.50 g/g of used motor oil, with high oil retention after 24 h dripping. In static condition of oil interception, the two oils started to leak at around 20 min for 10-mm thick kapok/PET wall. The time for that was prolonged with increasing the thickness of kapok/PET wall. After oil breakthrough, continuous oil leaking took place. The typical leakage was divided into three stages in which oils leaked separately in sharply increased rate, reduced rate and finally gently. In running condition, oils leaked in markedly quicker way than that in static condition, with initial leakage of oils shortened to less 6 min when the water ran at 60.35 ml/s. The leakage of oils was considerably accelerated with increasing running rates.

  18. Highly porous oil sorbent based on hollow fibers as the interceptor for oil on static and running water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, Ting; Cao, Shengbin; Xu, Guangbiao

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Highly porous sorbent was made up of kapok and PET fibers. • The sorbent was prepared by air-laying-bonding method. • The sorbent showed much higher oil sorption capacity than 100% loose kapok fibers. • The sorbent showed high intercepting efficiency to oils on water. • The runing of water significantly accelerated the oil leakage. - Abstract: Highly porous fibrous assembly made by kapok and hollow PET fibers was prepared by the air-laying-bonding method, and used as the interceptor for oils on static and running water. SEM showed that the vast majority of kapok and PET fibers in the assembly was intact and retained their hollow lumens, with the assembly's porosity high to 98.03%. Oil sorption tests exhibited that kapok/PET assembly could absorb 63.00 g/g of vegetable oil and 58.50 g/g of used motor oil, with high oil retention after 24 h dripping. In static condition of oil interception, the two oils started to leak at around 20 min for 10-mm thick kapok/PET wall. The time for that was prolonged with increasing the thickness of kapok/PET wall. After oil breakthrough, continuous oil leaking took place. The typical leakage was divided into three stages in which oils leaked separately in sharply increased rate, reduced rate and finally gently. In running condition, oils leaked in markedly quicker way than that in static condition, with initial leakage of oils shortened to less 6 min when the water ran at 60.35 ml/s. The leakage of oils was considerably accelerated with increasing running rates.

  19. Adaptable bioinspired special wetting surface for multifunctional oil/water separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kavalenka, Maryna N.; Vüllers, Felix; Kumberg, Jana; Zeiger, Claudia; Trouillet, Vanessa; Stein, Sebastian; Ava, Tanzila T.; Li, Chunyan; Worgull, Matthias; Hölscher, Hendrik

    2017-01-01

    Inspired by the multifunctionality of biological surfaces necessary for the survival of an organism in its specific environment, we developed an artificial special wetting nanofur surface which can be adapted to perform different functionalities necessary to efficiently separate oil and water for cleaning accidental oil spills or separating industrial oily wastewater. Initial superhydrophobic nanofur surface is fabricated using a hot pulling method, in which nano- and microhairs are drawn out of the polymer surface during separation from a heated sandblasted steel plate. By using a set of simple modification techniques, which include microperforation, plasma treatment and subsequent control of storage environment, we achieved selective separation of either water or oil, variable oil absorption and continuous gravity driven separation of oil/water mixtures by filtration. Furthermore, these functions can be performed using special wetting nanofur made from various thermoplastics, including biodegradable and recyclable polymers. Additionally, nanofur can be reused after washing it with organic solvents, thus, further helping to reduce the environmental impacts of oil/water separation processes. PMID:28051163

  20. Successful water management for the oil sands industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Braun, B.

    2003-01-01

    Water is a key requirement to produce oil from thermal oil sands projects. Historically, water was considered as a renewable resource that could be used when necessary. Water use is currently examined in a wider context. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has used fresh water for thermal projects in the past, including its thermal operations at Primrose and Wolf Lake. However, technical advancements have made it possible to use recycled water. This allows companies to survive within their licenses while increasing production. Other advances include the use of brackish water, and innovations such as using depleted reservoir sections to store water to increase the use of recycled water. It was noted that brackish water resources need to be mapped and understood in greater detail. The objective is to use brackish water at a cost equal to, or less, than fresh water

  1. Analysis of polyethoxylated surfactants in microemulsion-oil-water systems III. Fractionation and partitioning of polyethoxylated alcohol surfactants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marquez, N.; Bravo, B.; Ysambertt, F.; Chavez, G.; Subero, N.; Salager, J.L.

    2002-01-01

    Oligomer distribution of polyethoxylated alcohol and polyethoxylated nonylphenol surfactants is studied by normal and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A RP8 column is able to efficiently separate these surfactants according to their alkyl chain (lipophilic) group, while silica and amino columns separate them according to their polyether chain length (hydrophilic group). Polyethoxylated alcohol and polyethoxylated nonylphenol oligomers selectively partition between the microemulsion-oil-water phases of a Winsor III system. Partitioning of these oligomers was analyzed by HPLC with RI detection. The logarithm of the partition coefficient between the water and oil linearly increases with the number of ethylene oxide groups per molecule of oligomer. For a same ethoxylation degree, the partition coefficient of a polyethoxylated tridecanol is found to be higher than the one of the corresponding nonylphenol specie. On the other hand, a polyethoxylated nonylphenol exhibits a higher solubilization than the matching polyethoxylated alcohol

  2. Nano-sized water-in-oil-in-water emulsion enhances intestinal absorption of calcein, a high solubility and low permeability compound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koga, Kenjiro; Takarada, Nobuo; Takada, Kanji

    2010-02-01

    Our goal was to develop safe and stable multilayer emulsions capable of enhancing intestinal absorption of biopharmaceutics classification system (BCS) class III drugs. First, w/o emulsions were prepared using calcein as a model BCS class III compound and condensed ricinoleic acid tetraglycerin ester as a hydrophobic emulsifier. Then water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) emulsions were prepared with shirasu porous glass (SPG) membranes. Particle size analyses and calcein leakage from oil droplets in w/o/w emulsions led us to select stearic acid hexaglycerin esters (HS-11) and Gelucire 44/14 as hydrophilic emulsifiers. Analyses of the absorption-enhancing effects of w/o/w emulsions on intestinal calcein absorption in rats showed that calcein bioavailability after intraduodenal (i.d.) administration of HS-11 or Gelucire 44/14+polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) w/o/w emulsions prepared with 0.1-microm pore-sized SPGs was significantly higher than that of the calcein control. However, serum calcein concentration vs. time profiles after i.d. administration of w/o/w emulsions prepared with 1.1-microm and 30-microm pore-sized SPGs and an emulsion prepared with a calcein-containing outer water phase were comparable to control profiles. These results suggested that HS-11 or Gelucire 44/14+PVA are safe outer water phase additives and that 0.1-microm pore-sized SPGs are important for preparing w/o/w emulsions that enhanced intestinal calcein absorption. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Irradiation of Oil / Water Biphasic Systems: the Importance of Interfacial Surface Area on the Production of Hydrogen and Other Deleterious Products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Causey, Patrick-W.; Stuart, Craig-R.

    2012-09-01

    Occasionally, organic materials, such as lubricating oils, can enter irradiated aqueous reactor systems. This can upset the chemistry control of the reactor, resulting in elevated hydrogen gas concentrations, changes in system pH and the formation of unwanted degradation products. Most available information on the radiation chemistry of oil is extrapolated from irradiations of neat simple hydrocarbons like hexane; there is little information available as to the radiolytic breakdown of larger hydrocarbons in the presence of water. In the absence of water, the general radiation effects on hydrocarbons can be divided into fragmentation and polymerizations reactions. Some factors that can influence the degradation of hydrocarbons include the extent of hydrocarbon branching, the degree of bond-saturation, and the presence of scavenging molecules and dissolved gases. The mechanism of water radiolysis is well understood and tools are available to simulate such radiation chemistry. Additionally, irradiations of aqueous systems containing trace quantities of soluble organic species and ion exchange resins have also been studied. However, at least initially, oils that enter irradiated aqueous systems are essentially insoluble in water. This leads to a non-homogeneous system where radiation energy is deposited in both water and organic phases, each of which will have distinct irradiation behaviours. In addition to the irradiation effects in the aqueous and organic phases, the effects of irradiation on the chemistry at the interface between the phases and the rate of production of soluble hydrocarbon fragments from the degradation of the oil are unknown. A program was initiated to examine the radiation chemistry effects on aqueous systems contaminated with insoluble hydrocarbon-based oils. A unique vessel has been designed and fabricated for the irradiation of hydrocarbon-water mixtures in a Gammacell 60 Co γ-irradiator. The design allows for variation of the hydrocarbon-water

  4. An oil spill-food chain interaction model for coastal waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yew Hoong Gin, K.; Huda, Md. K.; Tkalich, P.

    2001-01-01

    An oil spill-food chain interaction model, composed of a multiphase oil spill model (MOSM) and a food chain model, has been developed to assess the probable impacts of oil spills on several key marine organisms (phytoplankton, zooplankton, small fish, large fish and benthic invertebrates). The MOSM predicts oil slick thickness on the water surface; dissolved, emulsified and particulate oil concentrations in the water column; and dissolved and particulate oil concentrations in bed sediments. This model is used to predict the fate of oil spills and transport with respect to specific organic compounds, while the food chain model addresses the uptake of toxicant by marine organisms. The oil spill-food chain interaction model can be used to assess the environmental impacts of oil spills in marine ecosystems. The model is applied to the recent Evoikos-Orapin Global oil spill that occurred in the Singapore Strait. (author)

  5. Bioinspired Diatomite Membrane with Selective Superwettability for Oil/Water Separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lo, Yu-Hsiang; Yang, Ching-Yu; Chang, Haw-Kai; Hung, Wei-Chen; Chen, Po-Yu

    2017-05-03

    Membranes with selective superwettability for oil/water separation have received significant attention during the past decades. Hierarchical structures and surface roughness are believed to improve the oil repellency and the stability of Cassie-Baxter state. Diatoms, unicellular photosynthetic algae, possess sophisticated skeletal shells (called frustules) which are made of hydrated silica. Motivated by the hierarchical micro- and nanoscale features of diatom, we fabricate a hierarchical diatomite membrane which consists of aligned micro-sized channels by the freeze casting process. The fine nano-porous structures of frustules are well preserved after the post sintering process. The bioinspired diatomite membrane performs both underwater superoleophobicity and superhydrophobicity under various oils. Additionally, we demonstrate the highly efficient oil/water separation capabililty of the membranes in various harsh environments. The water flux can be further adjusted by tuning the cooling rates. The eco-friendly and robust bioinspired membranes produced by the simple, cost-effective freeze casting method can be potentially applied for large scale and efficient oil/water separation.

  6. Oil-in-water emulsions flow through constricted micro-capillarities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Castillo, Oswaldo Robles; Carvalho, Marcio da Silveira [Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), RJ (Brazil). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

    2010-07-01

    The effect of the oil concentration and the drop size distribution on the characteristics of the flow of an emulsion through a constricted capillary was experimentally analyzed and quantified by the ratio of the pressure drop of the continuous phase flow to the pressure drop of the emulsion flow, at the same flow rate. The results confirm that the ratio between the capillary constriction diameter and the oil drop size is one of the most important parameters for this flow. For large oil drop size emulsions, the deformation of the drop as it flows through the constriction leads to a high extra pressure drop at low capillary numbers. For small oil drop size emulsions, the extra pressure drop is a function of the viscosity ratio and the disperse phase concentration. (author)

  7. Molecular Dynamics Simulation: The Behavior of Asphaltene in Crude Oil and at the Oil/Water Interface

    KAUST Repository

    Gao, Fengfeng

    2014-12-18

    Carboxyl asphaltene is commonly discussed in the petroleum industry. In most conditions, electroneutral carboxyl asphaltene molecules can be deprotonated to become carboxylate asphaltenes. Both in crude oil and at the oil/water interface, the characteristics of anionic carboxylate asphaltenes are different than those of the carboxyl asphaltenes. In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are utilized to study the structural features of different asphaltene molecules, namely, C5 Pe and anionic C5 Pe, at the molecular level. In crude oil, the electroneutral C5 Pe molecules prefer to form a steady face-to-face stacking, while the anionic C5 Pe molecules are inclined to form face-to-face stacking and T-shaped II stacking because of the repulsion of the anionic headgroups. Anionic C5 Pe has a distinct affinity to the oil/water interface during the simulation, while the C5 Pe molecules persist in the crude oil domain. A three-stage model of anionic C5 Pe molecules adsorbed at the oil/water interface is finally developed.

  8. Cleaning oil refining drainage waters out of emulsified oil products with thermic treated cedar nut shell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pyatanova, P. A.; Adeeva, L. N.

    2017-08-01

    It was elaborated the ability of the sorbent produced by thermic treatment of cedar nut shell to destruct model and real first kind (direct) emulsions in static and dynamic conditions. In static conditions optimal ratio sorbent-emulsion with the original concentration of oil products 800 mg/l was in the range of 2.0 g per 100 ml of emulsion which corresponds to the level of treatment 94.9%. The time of emulsion destruction was 40 minutes. This sorbent is highly active in dynamic processes of oil-contaminated water treatment, the level of treatment 96.0% is being achieved. Full dynamic sorptive capacity of the sorbent is 0.85 g/g. Sorbent based on the thermic treated cedar nut shell can be elaborated as sorptive filter element of local treatment facilities of oil refining and petrochemical processes. After the treatment with this sorbent of drainage waters of oil refinery in dynamic conditions the concentration of oil products became less than mpc on oil products for waste waters coming to biological treatment.

  9. Multiclass pesticide determination in olives and their processing factors in olive oil: comparison of different olive oil extraction systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amvrazi, Elpiniki G; Albanis, Triantafyllos A

    2008-07-23

    The processing factors (pesticide concentration found in olive oil/pesticide concentration found in olives) of azinphos methyl, chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, diazinon, dimethoate, endosulfan, and fenthion were determined in olive oil production process in various laboratory-scale olive oil extractions based on three- or two-phase centrifugation systems in comparison with samples collected during olive oil extractions in conventional olive mills located at different olive oil production areas in Greece. Pesticide analyses were performed using a multiresidue method developed in our laboratory for the determination of different insecticides and herbicides in olive oil by solid-phase extraction techniques coupled to gas chromatography detection (electron capture detection and nitrogen phosphorus detection), optimized, and validated for olive fruits sample preparation. Processing factors were found to vary among the different pesticides studied. Water addition in the oil extraction procedure (as in a three-phase centrifugation system) was found to decrease the processing factors of dimethoate, alpha-endosulfan, diazinon, and chlorpyrifos, whereas those of fenthion, azinphos methyl, beta-endosulfan, lambda-cyhalothrin, and deltamethrin residues were not affected. The water content of olives processed was found to proportionally affect pesticide processing factors. Fenthion sulfoxide and endosulfan sulfate were the major metabolites of fenthion and endosulfan, respectively, that were detected in laboratory-produced olive oils, but only the concentration of fenthion sulfoxide was found to increase with the increase of water addition in the olive oil extraction process.

  10. Rheological Behaviour of Water-in-Light Crude Oil Emulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husin, H.; Taju Ariffin, T. S.; Yahya, E.

    2018-05-01

    Basically, emulsions consist of two immiscible liquids which have different density. In petroleum industry, emulsions are undesirable due to their various costly problems in term of transportation difficulties and production loss. A study of the rheological behaviour of light crude oil and its mixture from Terengganu were carried out using Antoon Paar MCR 301 rheometer operated at pressure of 2.5 bar at temperature C. Water in oil emulsions were prepared by mixing light crude oil with different water volume fractions (20%, 30% and 40%). The objectives of present paper are to study the rheological behaviour of emulsion as a fuction of shear rate and model analysis that fitted with the experimental data. The rheological models of Ostwald-De-Waele and Herschel-Bulkley were fitted to the experimental results. All models represented well the rheological data, with high values for the correlation coefficients. The result indicated that variation of water content influenced shear rate-shear stress rheogram of the prepared emulsions. In the case of 100% light crude oil, the study demonstrated non-Newtonian shear thickening behavior. However, for emulsion with different volume water ratios, the rheological behaviour could be well described by Herschel-Bulkley models due to the present of yield stress parameter (R2 = 0.99807). As a conclusion, rheological studies showed that volume water ratio have a great impact on the shear stress and viscosity of water in oil emulsion and it is important to understand these factors to avoid various costly problems.

  11. An additive to well injection water for increasing the oil yield

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Absov, M.T.; Abutalybov, M.G.; Aslanov, S.M.; Movruzov, E.N.; Musaev, R.A.; Tairov, N.D.

    1979-03-05

    This invention relates to oil production using flooding. The goal of this invention is to increase the oil yield of a producing formation. This is achieved by using a saponin solution as an additive to the water injected into the formation (with related organic substances which are complex organic nitrogen-free compounds from the glycoside group; these substances yield solution that foam easily with an agitation). The use of saponin facilitates good solubility in fresh, sea and formation (alkaline and hard) waters, as well as the absence of sediment formation during dissolution, low solid adsorption, and a significant decrease in the surface water tension on the oil-water boundary. The aqueous saponin solution makes it possible to decrease the production cost of oil, as well as to decrease the development time of the fields and the volume of water injected into the formation and to significantly increase the oil yield.

  12. Mixed reverse micelles facilitated downstream processing of lipase involving water-oil-water liquid emulsion membrane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhowal, Saibal; Priyanka, B S; Rastogi, Navin K

    2014-01-01

    Our earlier work for the first time demonstrated that liquid emulsion membrane (LEM) containing reverse micelles could be successfully used for the downstream processing of lipase from Aspergillus niger. In the present work, we have attempted to increase the extraction and purification fold of lipase by using mixed reverse micelles (MRM) consisting of cationic and nonionic surfactants in LEM. It was basically prepared by addition of the internal aqueous phase solution to the organic phase followed by the redispersion of the emulsion in the feed phase containing enzyme, which resulted in globules of water-oil-water (WOW) emulsion for the extraction of lipase. The optimum conditions for maximum lipase recovery (100%) and purification fold (17.0-fold) were CTAB concentration 0.075 M, Tween 80 concentration 0.012 M, at stirring speed of 500 rpm, contact time 15 min, internal aqueous phase pH 7, feed pH 9, KCl concentration 1 M, NaCl concentration 0.1 M, and ratio of membrane emulsion to feed volume 1:1. Incorporation of the nonionic surfactant (e.g., Tween 80) resulted in remarkable improvement in the purification fold (3.1-17.0) of the lipase. LEM containing a mixture of nonionic and cationic surfactants can be successfully used for the enhancement in the activity recovery and purification fold during downstream processing of enzymes/proteins. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  13. Evaluation of the permeability of microporous membranes polyamide 6 / clay bentonite for water-oil separation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medeiros, P.S.S.; Medeiros, K.M.; Araujo, E.M.; Lira, H.L.

    2014-01-01

    The petroleum refining industries have faced major problems in relation to the treatment of their effluents before disposal into the environment. Among the conventional technologies treatment of these effluents, the process of oil-water separation by means of membranes has been extensively used, for having enormous potentiality. Therefore, in this study, hybrid membranes of polyamide 6/ bentonite clay were produced by the technique of phase inversion and by precipitation of the solution from the nanocomposites obtained by melt intercalation. The clay was organically modified with the quaternary ammonium salt (Cetremide®). The nanocomposites were obtained from (PA6) with untreated (AST) and treated clay (ACT), which were subsequently characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Already membranes were characterized by XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and flow measurements. From the XRD results, it was observed an exfoliated and/or partially exfoliated structure for the nanocomposites and for the membranes. From SEM images it was observed that the presence of AST and ACT clays in the polymeric matrix caused changes in membrane morphology and pore formation. The flow with distilled water in the membranes showed a decrease initially and then followed by stability. All membranes tested in the process of separating emulsions of oil in water, particularly those of nanocomposites obtained a significant reduction of oil concentration in the permeate, thus showing that these membranes have a great potential to be applied to the water-oil separation. (author)

  14. Salinity independent volume fraction prediction in water-gas-oil multiphase flows using artificial neural networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salgado, C.M.; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A.; Brandao, Luis E.B., E-mail: otero@ien.gov.b, E-mail: cmnap@ien.gov.b, E-mail: brandao@ien.gov.b [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (DIRA/IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Div. de Radiofarmacos

    2011-07-01

    This work investigates the response of a volume fraction prediction system for water-gas-oil multiphase flows considering variations on water salinity. The approach is based on gamma-ray pulse height distributions pattern recognition by means the artificial neural networks (ANNs). The detection system uses appropriate fan beam geometry, comprised of a dual-energy gamma-ray source and two NaI(Tl) detectors adequately positioned outside the pipe in order measure transmitted and scattered beams. An ideal and static theoretical model for annular flow regime have been developed using MCNP-X code, which was used to provide training, test and validation data for the ANN. More than 500 simulations have been done, in which water salinity have been ranged from 0 to 16% in order to cover a most practical situations. Validation tests have included values of volume fractions and water salinity different from those used in ANN training phase. The results presented here show that the proposed approach may be successfully applied to material volume fraction prediction on watergas- oil multiphase flows considering practical (real) levels of variations in water salinity. (author)

  15. Salinity independent volume fraction prediction in water-gas-oil multiphase flows using artificial neural networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salgado, C.M.; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A.; Brandao, Luis E.B.

    2011-01-01

    This work investigates the response of a volume fraction prediction system for water-gas-oil multiphase flows considering variations on water salinity. The approach is based on gamma-ray pulse height distributions pattern recognition by means the artificial neural networks (ANNs). The detection system uses appropriate fan beam geometry, comprised of a dual-energy gamma-ray source and two NaI(Tl) detectors adequately positioned outside the pipe in order measure transmitted and scattered beams. An ideal and static theoretical model for annular flow regime have been developed using MCNP-X code, which was used to provide training, test and validation data for the ANN. More than 500 simulations have been done, in which water salinity have been ranged from 0 to 16% in order to cover a most practical situations. Validation tests have included values of volume fractions and water salinity different from those used in ANN training phase. The results presented here show that the proposed approach may be successfully applied to material volume fraction prediction on watergas- oil multiphase flows considering practical (real) levels of variations in water salinity. (author)

  16. Panorama 2011: Water in fuel production Oil production and refining

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nabzar, L.

    2011-01-01

    Water plays a vital role in the production of fuels. Against a background of extremely high pressure to do with the need to protect the environment, better manage energy use and operate in a socially responsible manner - as well as the need to protect water as a resource and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water management has become a major issue for the oil industry. These issues have all more or less been factored into the integrated water management programmes which have been introduced both in oil production and oil refining. These programmes have been designed to keep waste and emissions to a minimum, and to reduce the quantities of water required. (author)

  17. Phase equilibrium of North Sea oils with polar chemicals: Experiments and CPA modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frost, Michael Grynnerup; Kontogeorgis, Georgios M.; von Solms, Nicolas

    2016-01-01

    This work consists of a combined experimental and modeling study for oil - MEG - water systems, of relevance to petroleum applications. We present new experimental liquid-liquid equilibrium data for the mutual solubility of two North Sea oils + MEG and North Sea oils + MEG + water systems...

  18. Simultaneous PLIF and PIV measurement of a near field turbulent immiscible buoyant oil jet fragmentation in water using liquid-liquid refractive index matching

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Xinzhi; Katz, Joseph

    2017-11-01

    Very little experimental data exits on the flow structure in the near field of a crude oil jet fragmenting in water because of inability to probe dense droplet cloud. Refractive index-matching is applied to overcome this challenge by using silicone oil and sugar water as a surrogate liquid pair. Their density ratio, viscosity ratio, and interfacial tension are closely matched with those of crude oil and seawater. Simultaneous PLIF and PIV measurements are conducted by fluorescently tagging the oil and seeding both phases with particles. With increasing jet Reynolds and Weber numbers, the oil plume breakup occurs closer to the nozzle, the spreading angle of the jet increases, and the droplet sizes decrease. The varying spread rate is attributed to differences in droplet size distributions. The location of primary oil breakup is consistent with the region of high strain rate fluctuations. What one may perceive as oil droplets in opaque fluids actually consists of multi-layers containing water droplets, which sometimes encapsulate smaller oil droplets, creating a ``Russian Doll'' like phenomenon. This system forms as ligaments of oil and water wrap around each other during entrainment. Results include profiles of mean velocity and turbulence parameters along with energy spectra. Gulf of Mexico Research Inititave.

  19. A Microfluidic Method to Assess Emulsion Stability in Crude-Oil/Water Separators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krebs, T.; Schroën, C.G.P.H.; Boom, R.M.

    2011-01-01

    The control of emulsion stability and droplet size is of crucial importance for oil production, especially for the processes of crude/oil water separation and cleanup of produced water. To recover pure oil and water, coalescence between droplets needs to take place, the extent of which will depend

  20. Water treatment system for utilities: Phase 1 -- Technology assessment. Interim report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janss, T.M.; Tucker, R.E.

    1997-12-01

    A conceptual design for a water treatment system to reduce pollutants in manhole and vault water is presented as an alternative to current water disposal practices. Runoff and groundwater seepage that collects in vaults and manholes contains, or is likely to contain, concentrations of pollutants in excess of regulatory guidelines. Pollutants commonly present in storm water runoff consist of lead, cadmium, oil, grease and asbestos. The conceptual design presents the basis for a water treatment system that will reduce pollutant concentrations to levels below regulatory thresholds. The water treatment system is relatively inexpensive, small and simple to operate. A strainer is used to remove gross particulates, which are then stored for disposal. Utilizing centrifugal force, vault and manhole water is separated into constituent fractions including fine particulates, inorganics and oils. Fine particulates are stored with gross particulates for disposal. Chemical fixation is used to stabilize inorganics. Organic substances are stored for disposal. The water treatment system uses a granular activated carbon filter as an effluent polish to adsorb the remaining pollutants from the effluent water stream. The water can be discharged to the street or storm drain and the pollutants are stored for disposal as non-hazardous waste. This system represents a method to reduce pollutant volumes, reduced disposal costs and reduce corporate environmental liability. It should be noted that the initial phase of the development process is still in progress. This report is presented to reflect work in progress and as such should be considered preliminary

  1. Recurrence network analysis of experimental signals from bubbly oil-in-water flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Zhang, Xin-Wang; Du, Meng [School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Jin, Ning-De, E-mail: ndjin@tju.edu.cn [School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

    2013-02-04

    Based on the signals from oil–water two-phase flow experiment, we construct and analyze recurrence networks to characterize the dynamic behavior of different flow patterns. We first take a chaotic time series as an example to demonstrate that the local property of recurrence network allows characterizing chaotic dynamics. Then we construct recurrence networks for different oil-in-water flow patterns and investigate the local property of each constructed network, respectively. The results indicate that the local topological statistic of recurrence network is very sensitive to the transitions of flow patterns and allows uncovering the dynamic flow behavior associated with chaotic unstable periodic orbits.

  2. Recurrence network analysis of experimental signals from bubbly oil-in-water flows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Zhang, Xin-Wang; Du, Meng; Jin, Ning-De

    2013-01-01

    Based on the signals from oil–water two-phase flow experiment, we construct and analyze recurrence networks to characterize the dynamic behavior of different flow patterns. We first take a chaotic time series as an example to demonstrate that the local property of recurrence network allows characterizing chaotic dynamics. Then we construct recurrence networks for different oil-in-water flow patterns and investigate the local property of each constructed network, respectively. The results indicate that the local topological statistic of recurrence network is very sensitive to the transitions of flow patterns and allows uncovering the dynamic flow behavior associated with chaotic unstable periodic orbits.

  3. Visualization of viscous coupling effects in heavy oil reservoirs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ortiz-Arango, J.D. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Tomographic Imaging and Porous Media Laboratory; Kantzas, A. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Tomographic Imaging and Porous Media Laboratory

    2008-10-15

    Some heavy oil reservoirs in Venezuela and Canada have shown higher than expected production rates attributed to the effects of foamy oil or enhanced solution gas drive. However, foamy oil 2-phase flow does not fully explain oil rate enhancement in heavy oil reservoirs. In this study, flow visualization experiments were conducted in a 2-D etched network micromodel in order to determine the effect of the viscosity ratio on oil mobility at the pore scale. The micromodel's pattern was characterized by macroscopic heterogeneities with a random network of larger pore bodies interconnected with a random network of smaller pore throats. Displacement tests were conducted with green-dyed distilled water as a wetting phase. N-octane, bromododecane and mineral oil were used as non-wetting phases. An unsteady-state method was used to obtain displacement data, and the Alternate method was used to calculate relative permeabilities. Results of the study showed that relative permeabilities depended on the viscosity ratio of the fluids flowing through the porous medium. Channel and annular flows co-existed, and water lubrication was stronger at higher water saturations. The results of the study explained the abnormally high production rates in heavier oil fields. 19 refs., 3 tabs., 14 figs.

  4. Numerical approach for enhanced oil recovery with surfactant flooding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadegh Keshtkar

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The remained oil in the reservoir after conventional water-flooding processes, forms a dispersed phase in the form of oil drops which is trapped by capillary forces and is almost about 70% of the original oil in the place (OOIP. To reduce oil residual saturation in laboratory experiments and field projects, surfactant flooding is effective via decreasing the interfacial tension mobility ratio between oil and water phases. Estimation of the role of design variables, like chemical concentrations, partition coefficient and injection rate in different performance quantities, considering a heterogeneous and multiphase oil reservoir is a critical stage for optimal design. Increasing demand for oil production from water-flooded reservoirs has caused an increasing interest in surfactant-polymer (SP and alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP. Modeling minimizes the risk of high cost of chemicals by improving our insight of process. In the present paper, a surfactant compositional flood model for a three-component (water, petroleum and surfactant, two phase (aqueous and oleic system is studied. A homogeneous, two-dimensional, isothermal reservoir with no free gas or alkali is assumed. The governing equations are in three categories: the continuity equations for the transport of each component, Darcy's equation for the transport of each phase and other auxiliary equations. The equations are solved by finite-differences using a procedure implicit in pressure and explicit in saturation. The validation of the model is achieved through comparing the modeling results with CMG simulators and Buckley–Leverett theory. The results of modeling showed good agreement with CMG results, and the comparison with Buckley–Leverett theory is explained according to different assumptions. After validation of the model, in order to investigate sensitivity analysis, the effects of system variables (partition coefficient, surface tension, oil viscosity and surface injection

  5. Subcritical hydrothermal liquefaction of barley straw in fresh water and recycled aqueous phase

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhu, Zhe; Toor, Saqib; Rosendahl, Lasse

    2014-01-01

    This project focuses on the investigation of addition of aqueous phase in the production of biofuel from biomass through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology. Hydrothermal liquefaction is a wet thermal conversion process, which can convert all kinds of biomass to fuels. In this study, barley...... straw was first liquefied in fresh distilled water with the presence of K2CO3 catalyst at 300 C as the reference run. Afterwards, the aqueous phase which is obtained from liquefaction process in the previous run was recycled and used as the reaction medium from the second to the fourth run....... With the addition of recycling aqueous phase in HTL process, it is expected that the amount of the waste water and energy consumption can be reduced. The effect of water recirculation on product yield and properties was investigated in this study. The results showed that bio-oil yield was 34.85 wt% when the barley...

  6. Effect of stratification on segregation in carbon dioxide miscible flooding in a water-flooded oil reservoir

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhatti, A.A.; Mahmood, S.M.; Amjad, B.

    2013-01-01

    Oil reservoirs are subjected to tertiary recovery by deploying any enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique for the recovery of left over oil. Amongst many EOR methods one of the widely applied worldwide is CO/sub 2/ flooding through miscible, near miscible or immiscible displacement processes. CO/sub 2/ flooding process responds to a number of reservoir and fluid characteristics. These characteristics have strong effect on overall efficiency of the displacement process. Better understanding of the effect of different characteristics on displacement process is important to plan an efficient displacement process. In this work, the effect of stratification resulting in gravity segregation of the injected fluid is studied in an oil reservoir which is water-flooded during secondary phase of recovery. Sensitivity analysis is performed through successive simulation on Eclipse 300 (compositional) reservoir simulator. Process involves the continuous CO/sub 2/ injection in an oil reservoir with more than 1/3rd of original oil in place left after water flooding. Reservoir model with four different permeability layers is studied. Four patterns by changing the arrangement of the permeabilities of the layers are analysed. The effect of different arrangement or stratification on segregation of CO/sub 2/ and ultimately on the incremental oil recovery, is investigated. It has been observed that out of four arrangements, upward fining pattern relatively overcame the issue of the segregation of CO/sub 2/ and consequently 33% more oil with half injection volume is recovered when compared with the downward fining pattern. (author)

  7. 75 FR 76742 - Detecting Oil Leaks From Vessels Into the Water

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-09

    ... to detect leaks from oil tanks into the water? (E) What is the threshold for detection, accuracy... than leak detection from oil cargo tanks into the water? (H) Are methods or equipment being applied for... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard [Docket No. USCG-2010-1085] Detecting Oil Leaks From...

  8. Reflection of processes of non-equilibrium two-phase filtration in oil-saturated hierarchical medium in data of active wave geophysical monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hachay, Olga; Khachay, Andrey; Khachay, Oleg

    2016-04-01

    The processes of oil extraction from deposit are linked with the movement of multi-phase multi-component media, which are characterized by non-equilibrium and non-linear rheological features. The real behavior of layered systems is defined by the complexity of the rheology of moving fluids and the morphology structure of the porous medium, and also by the great variety of interactions between the fluid and the porous medium [Hasanov and Bulgakova, 2003]. It is necessary to take into account these features in order to informatively describe the filtration processes due to the non-linearity, non-equilibrium and heterogeneity that are features of real systems. In this way, new synergetic events can be revealed (namely, a loss of stability when oscillations occur, and the formation of ordered structures). This allows us to suggest new methods for the control and management of complicated natural systems that are constructed on account of these phenomena. Thus the layered system, from which it is necessary to extract the oil, is a complicated dynamical hierarchical system. A comparison is provided of non-equilibrium effects of the influence of independent hydrodynamic and electromagnetic induction on an oil layer and the medium which it surrounds. It is known that by drainage and steeping the hysteresis effect on curves of the relative phase permeability in dependence on the porous medium's water saturation in some cycles of influence (drainage-steep-drainage) is observed. Using the earlier developed 3D method of induction electromagnetic frequency geometric monitoring, we showed the possibility of defining the physical and structural features of a hierarchical oil layer structure and estimating the water saturation from crack inclusions. This effect allows managing the process of drainage and steeping the oil out of the layer by water displacement. An algorithm was constructed for 2D modeling of sound diffraction on a porous fluid-saturated intrusion of a hierarchical

  9. Topology and stability of a water-soybean-oil swirling flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrión, Luis; Herrada, Miguel A.; Shtern, Vladimir N.

    2017-02-01

    This paper reveals and explains the flow topology and instability hidden in an experimental study by Tsai et al. [Tsai et al., Phys. Rev. E 92, 031002(R) (2015)], 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.031002. Water and soybean oil fill a sealed vertical cylindrical container. The rotating top disk induces the meridional circulation and swirl of both fluids. The experiment shows a flattop interface shape and vortex breakdown in the oil flow developing as the rotation strength R eo increases. Our numerical study shows that vortex breakdown occurs in the water flow at R eo=300 and in the oil flow at R eo=941 . As R eo increases, the vortex breakdown cell occupies most of the water domain and approaches the interface at R eo around 600. The rest of the (countercirculating) water separates from the axis as the vortex breakdown cells in the oil and water meet at the interface-axis intersection. This topological transformation of water flow significantly contributes to the development of the flattop shape. It is also shown that the steady axisymmetric flow suffers from shear-layer instability, which emerges in the water domain at R eo=810 .

  10. Use of a Combined Technology of Ultrasonication, Three-Phase Partitioning, and Aqueous Enzymatic Oil Extraction for the Extraction of Oil from Spirogyra sp.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adisheshu Reddy

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Algal oil from Spirogyra sp. was extracted using a combined technology of ultrasonication, three-phase partitioning, and aqueous enzymatic oil extraction. Ultrasonication was done to rupture the cell wall and papain was used for an easier release of the trapped oil. The salt concentration for three-phase partitioning, preincubation period with (or without the protease, and its operational temperature were optimized for a maximum possible yield of the oil and the effect of ultrasonication, and three-phase partitioning with (or without the protease were studied. It was found that under optimized conditions at 50% ammonium sulphate concentration using tert-butanol (in 1 : 1, v/v ratio a presonicated and papain treated algal suspension could produce 24% (w/w, dry weight oil within few hours which was ten times higher as compared to the oil obtained by Soxhlet extraction using hexane and two times higher than the oil obtained without using the protease.

  11. The Use of Demulsifiers for Separating Water from Anthracene Oil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zečević, N.

    2008-03-01

    increasing aromaticity. It is also used for determination of the Bureau of Mines Correlation Index (BMCI,2 which is obtained either from density and midboiling point, or from density andviscosity for those feedstocks which cannot be distilled completely. This index is used by the carbon black industry as an important criteria for feedstock evaluation.The sulphur fraction in feedstocks should not exceed w = 2.5 ·10–2, because a higher content greatly affects the quality of carbon black, pollutes the atmosphere, and accelerates corrosion of the facility. The maximum sulphur content in the typical hydrocarbon feedstock is w = 1.2 · 10–2.3. A very important factor of hydrocarbon feedstock is the fraction of alkaline earth metals, especially sodium and potassium. The maximum sodium fraction may be w = 20·10–6, while the maximum potassium fraction is w = 2·10 –6.The maximum fraction of asphalthenes is w = 15 ·10–2. Asphalthenes, determined as pentane-insoluble matter, provide indications concerning the possibility of grit formation. Another very important factor is the temperature range of distillation, which should be low enough, because the hydrocarbon feedstock must evaporize before entering the hot region of the reactor. The viscosity, the pour point, and for safety reasons, the flash point determines the handling properties and storage conditions of the feedstock.In addition, the water fraction in the hydrocarbon feedstock is one of the most important factors. The water fraction in hydrocarbon feedstock influences the handling properties of the same. The maximum water fraction in hydrocarbon feedstock may be w = 2.0·10–2, and desirably below w = 1.0·10–2. A higher water fraction represent a considerable impact on the financial construction. Also, it is very difficult to manipulate such feedstock, especially unloading, and in the production of oil-furnace carbon black. Namely, every water fraction higher than w = 2.0·10–2 in the hydrocarbon feedstock

  12. Development of Nordic Standard for analysis of oil and fat in water based on supercritical fluid extraction. Preliminary study, part 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jenssen, L.

    1994-06-01

    This report describes a preliminary study of a method of determining oil in water. The method is based on solid phase extraction and supercritical fluid extraction (SPE-SFE). The oil is extracted from the water by absorption to extraction disks from which it is then desorbed by supercritical carbon dioxide and detected by means of infrared spectrophotometry or gas chromatography. The results of the study will indicate if the method is suitable as a future substitute for the present Norwegian Standard, NS 9803 (Swedish Standard, SS 02 8145). The method has been validated using water samples with addition of real oil to 1-100 ppm. The accuracy is almost 70%, and the method has good repeatability and is linear in the 1-100 ppm range. 5 refs., 6 figs., 10 tabs

  13. Operation Clean Feather: Reducing oil pollution in Newfoundland waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chardine, J.W.; Pelly, G.

    1994-01-01

    Oil pollution of marine waters around Newfoundland, and particularly in the vicinity of Placentia Bay, is a frequent occurrence. Many oiled seabirds are found on beaches in the bay, particularly in winter. The most likely pollution sources are ship operators who dump waste oils from bilges and slop tanks. In an effort to reduce the chronic discharge of waste oil into Placentia Bay, and thus the incidence of bird oiling, Operation Clean Feather was launched in 1991-92 and consisted of weekly surveys of Placentia Bay beaches, sampling of oil from vessels using the bay and from oiled birds and beaches, and experimentation to determine possible recovery rates of birds oiled at sea. The operation was considered a success at a number of levels. Significant reductions in numbers of oiled birds were noted in both 1991 and 1992 compared to 1989 or 1990. Estimated oil-related mortality was reduced to ca 25% of levels seen in the two years prior to the operation. The operation also provided the opportunity to test and refine an organizational framework designed to deal with the problem of chronic oil pollution reports. Communication efforts heightened the awareness of the oil pollution problem in Newfoundland waters. These efforts included distribution of pamphlets in various languages to ship operators, describing the seriousness of oil-related marine bird mortality and warning of the substantial fines that can be imposed under the Canada Shipping Act. 6 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

  14. Novel concepts for the containment of oil in flowing water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, H.M.; Nicholson, P.; Goodman, R.H.; Berry, B.A.; Hughes, B.R.

    1993-01-01

    Both a laboratory study of the hydrodynamic properties of variously shaped objects and a meso-scale flume study of several containment concepts have been undertaken to determine whether these can be used to contain oil in fast flowing water. The laboratory study showed that stable vortices are difficult to generate and that spilled oil is not easily trapped by them. Only two of the structures studied showed some promise of trapping oil in fast moving water: a partially submerged barrier with fins placed at an angle across the flume and a horizontal hydrofoil placed across the channel near the surface. Several filter materials were tested in an outdoor flowing channel with both floating and neutrally buoyant oil. Although some of these materials trapped and held heavy oil, they were not a significant improvement over nylon fishing nets which had been tested previously. The filter materials would not hold a medium gravity oil. A hydrofoil device which generated a horizontal eddy successfully trapped and held surface oil at water speeds up to 0.35 m/s. Neutrally buoyant oil was often caught by the eddy but was never held for more than 1-2 minutes. 9 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs

  15. Policy Analysis of Water Availability and Use Issues for Domestic Oil Shale and Oil Sands Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruple, John [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States); Keiter, Robert [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

    2010-03-01

    Oil shale and oil sands resources located within the intermountain west represent a vast, and as of yet, commercially untapped source of energy. Development will require water, and demand for scarce water resources stands at the front of a long list of barriers to commercialization. Water requirements and the consequences of commercial development will depend on the number, size, and location of facilities, as well as the technologies employed to develop these unconventional fuels. While the details remain unclear, the implication is not – unconventional fuel development will increase demand for water in an arid region where demand for water often exceeds supply. Water demands in excess of supplies have long been the norm in the west, and for more than a century water has been apportioned on a first-come, first-served basis. Unconventional fuel developers who have not already secured water rights stand at the back of a long line and will need to obtain water from willing water purveyors. However, uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of some senior water claims combine with indeterminate interstate river management to cast a cloud over water resource allocation and management. Quantitative and qualitative water requirements associated with Endangered Species protection also stand as barriers to significant water development, and complex water quality regulations will apply to unconventional fuel development. Legal and political decisions can give shape to an indeterminate landscape. Settlement of Northern Ute reserved rights claims would help clarify the worth of existing water rights and viability of alternative sources of supply. Interstate apportionment of the White River would go a long way towards resolving water availability in downstream Utah. And energy policy clarification will help determine the role oil shale and oil sands will play in our nation’s future.

  16. Potential for photoenhanced toxicity of spilled oil in Prince William Sound and Gulf of Alaska Waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barron, M.G.; Ka'aihue, L.

    2001-01-01

    Photoenhanced toxicity is the increase in the toxicity of a chemical in the presence of ultraviolet light (UV) compared to a standard laboratory test conducted with fluorescent lighting (minimal UV). Oil products, weathered oil, and specific polycyclic aromatic compounds present in oil are 2 to greater than 1000 times more toxic in the presence of UV. The photoenhanced toxicity of oil to fish and aquatic invertebrates appears to occur through a process of photosensitization, rather than photomodification of the aqueous phase oil. In photosensitization, the bioaccumulated chemical transfers light energy to other molecules causing toxicity through tissue damage rather than a narcosis mechanism. The available evidence indicates that phototoxic components of oil are specific 3-5 ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocycles. Determinants of photoenhanced toxicity include the extent of oil bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms and the spectra and intensity of UV exposure. No studies have specifically investigated the photoenhanced toxicity of spilled oil in Alaska waters. Although there are substantial uncertainties, the results of this evaluation indicate there is potential for photoenhanced toxicity of spilled oil in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. The potential hazard of photoenhanced toxicity may be greatest for embryo and larval stages of aquatic organisms that are relatively translucent to UV and inhabit the photic zone of the water column and intertidal areas. Photoenhanced toxicity should be considered in oil spill response because the spatial and temporal extent of injury to aquatic organisms may be underestimated if based on standard laboratory bioassays and existing toxicity databases. Additionally, the choice of counter measures and oil removal operations may influence the degree of photoenhanced toxicity. (author)

  17. Water footprint assessment of oil palm in Malaysia: A preliminary study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhammad-Muaz, A.; Marlia, M. H.

    2014-09-01

    This study evaluates the water footprint of growing oil palm in Malaysia based on the water footprint method. The crop water use was determined using the CROPWAT 8.0 model developed by the Land and Water Development Division of FAO. The total water footprint for growing oil palm is 243 m3/ton. The result of this study showed that the green water footprint is 1.5 orders of magnitude larger compared to the blue water footprint. Besides providing updated status of total water used from the oil palm plantation, our result also shows that this baseline information helps in identifying which areas need to be conserved and what type of recommendation that should be drawn. As the results of the water footprint can differ between locations, the inclusion of local water stress index should be considered in the calculation of water footprint.

  18. Life cycle water demand coefficients for crude oil production from five North American locations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Babkir; Kumar, Amit

    2017-10-15

    The production of liquid fuels from crude oil requires water. There has been limited focus on the assessment of life cycle water demand footprints for crude oil production and refining. The overall aim of this paper is address this gap. The objective of this research is to develop water demand coefficients over the life cycle of fuels produced from crude oil pathways. Five crude oil fields were selected in the three North American countries to reflect the impact of different spatial locations and technologies on water demand. These include the Alaska North Slope, California's Kern County heavy oil, and Mars in the U.S.; Maya in Mexico; and Bow River heavy oil in Alberta, Canada. A boundary for an assessment of the life cycle water footprint was set to cover the unit operations related to exploration, drilling, extraction, and refining. The recovery technology used to extract crude oil is one of the key determining factors for water demand. The amount of produced water that is re-injected to recover the oil is essential in determining the amount of fresh water that will be required. During the complete life cycle of one barrel of conventional crude oil, 1.71-8.25 barrels of fresh water are consumed and 2.4-9.51 barrels of fresh water are withdrawn. The lowest coefficients are for Bow River heavy oil and the highest coefficients are for Maya crude oil. Of all the unit operations, exploration and drilling require the least fresh water (less than 0.015 barrel of water per barrel of oil produced). A sensitivity analysis was conducted and uncertainty in the estimates was determined. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Antioxidant Behavior of Olive Phenolics in Oil-in-Water Emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paradiso, Vito Michele; Di Mattia, Carla; Giarnetti, Mariagrazia; Chiarini, Marco; Andrich, Lucia; Caponio, Francesco

    2016-07-27

    The effect of the surrounding molecular environment (β-lactoglobulin as an emulsion stabilizer and maltodextrin as a viscosity modifier) on the antioxidant activity of three olive oil phenolic compounds (PCs) in olive oil-in-water emulsions was investigated. Oxidation potential, phenolic partitioning, and radical quenching capacity were assessed in solution and in emulsion for oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, and tyrosol; the influence of β-lactoglobulin and maltodextrin concentration was also evaluated. Finally, the observed properties were related to the oxidative stability of the emulsions containing the PCs to explain their behavior. The order hydroxytyrosol > oleuropein > tyrosol was observed among the antioxidants for both oxidation potential and radical quenching activity. Radical quenching capacity in emulsion and anodic potential were complementary indices of antioxidant effectiveness. As the intrinsic susceptibility of an antioxidant to oxidation expressed by its anodic potential decreased, the environmental conditions (molecular interactions and changes in continuous phase viscosity) played a major role in the antioxidant effectiveness in preventing hydroperoxide decomposition.

  20. Experimental study of oil-water with paraffin precipitation in submarine pipelines; Estudo experimental do escoamento oleo-agua com precipitacao de parafinas em dutos submarinos

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bordalo, Sergio N.; Oliveira, Rafael de Castro [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (FEM/UNICAMP), SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica. Dept. de Engenharia de Petroleo], e-mail: bordalo@dep.fem.unicamp.br, e-mail: rafael@dep.fem.unicamp.br

    2006-07-01

    The deposition of paraffins in submarine pipelines poses a serious problem for the offshore petroleum production. Paraffins precipitate off oily solutions due to a temperature decrease according to the phase equilibrium conditions of the liquid-solid system. After some time, the continuous precipitation leads to deposits in the internal walls of the pipe, clogging the lines and promoting an increase in the head loss of the flow. Consequently, there is an increase in the pressure gradient required to maintain the flow, and the flow rate is reduced. A complete obstruction of the pipeline may occur. In the present work, this phenomenon was studied in a simulation of the subsea operational conditions, where the oil pipelines laying on the seabed are subjected to low temperatures, just a little above the freezing point of water. The pipeline behaves as a heat exchanger and the hot oil from the underground reservoir emerging from the wellhead is effectively cooled down to the point where paraffin precipitation occurs somewhere along the line. An experimental apparatus was built for a 25.4 mm (1 in) diameter pipe-flow model with 13 m of length, submerged in a chilling bath of near frozen water. Stream wise pressure and temperature gradients were measured, in order to evaluate the differences in the behavior of paraffin deposition between one-phase oil flow and two-phase oil-water flow. (author)

  1. Water scarcity and oil palm expansion: social views and environmental processes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer Merten

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Conversions of natural ecosystems, e.g., from rain forests to managed plantations, result in significant changes in the hydrological cycle including periodic water scarcity. In Indonesia, large areas of forest were lost and extensive oil palm plantations were established over the last decades. We conducted a combined social and environmental study in a region of recent land-use change, the Jambi Province on Sumatra. The objective was to derive complementary lines of arguments to provide balanced insights into environmental perceptions and eco-hydrological processes accompanying land-use change. Interviews with villagers highlighted concerns regarding decreasing water levels in wells during dry periods and increasing fluctuations in stream flow between rainy and dry periods. Periodic water scarcity was found to severely impact livelihoods, which increased social polarization. Sap flux measurements on forest trees and oil palms indicate that oil palm plantations use as much water as forests for transpiration. Eddy covariance analyses of evapotranspiration over oil palm point to substantial additional sources of evaporation in oil palm plantations such as the soil and epiphytes. Stream base flow from a catchment dominated by oil palms was lower than from a catchment dominated by rubber plantations; both showed high peaks after rainfall. An estimate of erosion indicated approximately 30 cm of topsoil loss after forest conversion to both oil palm and rubber plantations. Analyses of climatic variables over the last 20 years and of a standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index for the last century suggested that droughts are recurrent in the area, but have not increased in frequency or intensity. Consequently, we assume that conversions of rain forest ecosystems to oil palm plantations lead to a redistribution of precipitated water by runoff, which leads to the reported periodic water scarcity. Our combined social and environmental approach

  2. The use of material balanced equation to determine the oil water ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The oil water contact of an oil reservoir can be determined using some geophysical well logs. However, some of the methods might not be accurate. Therefore the material balanced equation which is an accurate means of formation evaluation is critically analysed in this study and then used to determine the oil water contact ...

  3. Viscosity of 'live' water-in-crude-oil emulsions. Experimental work and validation of correlations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johnsen, Einar Eng [Statoil Research and Technology, R and D Center, Production Systems, Arkitekt Ebbellsvei 10, Rotvoll, N-7005 Trondheim (Norway); Roenningsen, Hans Petter [Statoil, Multiphase and Flow Assurance Department, N-4035 Stavanger (Norway)

    2003-05-01

    A method for measuring emulsion viscosity under pressurized (1-100 bar) and temperature-controlled flow conditions is described. It makes use of a flow simulator shaped as a hollow wheel. As the wheel is rotating, the liquid inside will have a relative motion in the opposite direction of the rotation. The torque acting on the wheel shaft is measured and transformed, via a calibration model, into the viscosity of the fluid. The method has been applied to water-in-oil emulsions with several live North Sea crude oils with saturation pressures up to 100 bar and water cuts in the range 0-90%. The method is shown to be a useful way of obtaining estimates of emulsion viscosity for live oil systems in a relatively small scale apparatus. Even though the crude oils studied were rather different and had very different viscosities, the relative viscosities as a function of water cut up to at least 60% showed small variation and might be represented by a general 'master curve'. The relative viscosities obtained experimentally have been compared to a temperature-dependent Richardson-type correlation [Roenningsen, H.P., 1995. Correlations for predicting viscosity of W/O-emulsions based on North Sea crude oils. Proc. SPE Int. Symp. Oil Field Chem., Houston, TX, USA, SPE 28968], and three other correlations proposed by Mooney [J. Colloid Sci. 6 (1951) 162], Pal and Rhodes [J. Rheol. 337 (1989) 1021] (P and R) and Pal [J. Colloid Interface Sci. 231 (2000) 168], respectively. Overall, when being tuned to measured data, the P and R correlation gives the best match, closely followed by the Mooney correlation, but for low and medium water cuts, the Roenningsen correlation is comparable. This correlation does not require any measurements for tuning. Although it may be slightly conservative at low to medium water cuts, and somewhat optimistic at very high water cuts, for practical purposes in design of flow lines, it provides a reasonably accurate first estimate of the effective

  4. Decontamination of water polluted with oil through the use of tanned solid wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gammoun, A.; Azzi, M.

    2007-01-01

    The ability of chrome shavings (CS) and buffing dusts of crust leather (BDCL) to remove oily wastes from demineralized water and natural seawater was investigated. The aim of the study was to discover environmentally friendly alternatives for the disposal of solid tannery wastes. The specific surface area of the CS and the BDCL were examined to determine ash content; chromium oxide; fat; and the pH of soluble matter. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was then used to examine the structure and morphology of the samples. Three types of oil were used in the experiment: diesel motor oil; premium motor oil; and used motor oil. Sorbent materials were added to a beaker containing 1000 ml of water and 5.5 g of oil. The amount of residual oil in the water was then extracted with petroleum ether. The amount of oil sorbed on the wastes was calculated by subtracting the amount of residual oil in water from the initial mass of oil added to the beakers. Results suggested that the tanned solid wastes efficiently removed the oil from the water. It was concluded that the waste materials were able to absorb many times their weight in oil. 21 refs., 4 tabs., 2 figs

  5. Toxicity of methylmercury injected into eggs when dissolved in water versus corn oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinz, G.H.; Hoffman, D.J.; Klimstra, J.D.; Stebbins, K.R.; Kondrad, S.L.

    2011-01-01

    In a previous study, the embryotoxicity of methylmercury dissolved in corn oil was compared among 26 species of birds. Corn oil is not soluble in the water-based matrix that constitutes the albumen of an egg. To determine whether the use of corn oil limited the usefulness of this earlier study, a comparison was made of the embryotoxicity of methylmercury dissolved in corn oil versus water. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and chicken (Gallus gallus) eggs were injected with methylmercury chloride dissolved in corn oil or water to achieve concentrations of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6??g/g mercury in the egg on a wet weight basis. Hatching success at each dose of mercury was compared between the two solvents. For mallards, 16.4% of the eggs injected with 1.6??g/g mercury dissolved in water hatched, which was statistically lower than the 37.6% hatch rate of eggs injected with 1.6??g/g mercury dissolved in corn oil, but no differences in hatching success were observed between corn oil and water at any of the other doses. With chicken eggs, no significant differences occurred in percentage hatch of eggs between corn oil and water at any of the mercury doses. Methylmercury dissolved in corn oil seems to have a toxicity to avian embryos similar to that of does methylmercury dissolved in water. Consequently, the results from the earlier study that described the toxicity of methylmercury dissolved in corn oil to avian embryos were probably not compromised by the use of corn oil as a solvent. ?? 2011 SETAC.

  6. Influence of Surfactant Structure on the Stability of Water-in-Oil Emulsions under High-Temperature High-Salinity Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdelhalim I. A. Mohamed

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Emulsified water-in-oil (W/O systems are extensively used in the oil industry for water control and acid stimulation. Emulsifiers are commonly utilized to emulsify a water-soluble material to form W/O emulsion. The selection of a particular surfactant for such jobs is critical and certainly expensive. In this work, the impact of surfactant structure on the stability of W/O emulsions is investigated using the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB of the surfactant. Different commercial surfactants were evaluated for use as emulsifiers for W/O systems at high-temperature (up to 120°C high-salinity (221,673 ppm HTHS conditions. Diverse surfactants were examined including ethoxylates, polyethylene glycols, fluorinated surfactants, and amides. Both commercial Diesel and waste oil are used for the oleic phase to prepare the emulsified system. Waste oil has shown higher stability (less separation in comparison with Diesel. This work has successfully identified stable emulsified W/O systems that can tolerate HTHS environments using HLB approach. Amine Acetate family shows higher stability in comparison with Glycol Ether family and at even lower concentration. New insights into structure-surfactant stability relationship, beyond the HLB approach, are provided for surfactant selection.

  7. Migration through soil of organic solutes in an oil-shale process water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leenheer, J.A.; Stuber, H.A.

    1981-01-01

    The migration through soil of organic solutes in an oil-shale process water (retort water) was studied by using soil columns and analyzing leachates for various organic constituents. Retort water extracted significant quantities of organic anions leached from ammonium-saturated-soil organic matter, and a distilled-water rinse, which followed retort-water leaching, released additional organic acids from the soil. After being corrected for organic constitutents extracted from soil by retort water, dissolved-organic-carbon fractionation analyses of effluent fractions showed that the order of increasing affinity of six organic compound classes for the soil was as follows: hydrophilic neutrals nearly equal to hydrophilic acids, followed by the sequence of hydrophobic acids, hydrophilic bases, hydrophobic bases, and hydrophobic neutrals. Liquid-chromatographic analysis of the aromatic amines in the hydrophobic- and hydrophilic-base fractions showed that the relative order of the rates of migration through the soil column was the same as the order of migration on a reversed-phase, octadecylsilica liquid-chromatographic column.

  8. Characterization of Emulsions of Fish Oil and Water by Cryo Scanning Electron Microscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Louise Helene Søgaard; Horn, Anna Frisenfeldt; Jacobsen, Charlotte

    Addition of fish oil to industrially prepared food products is attractive to the food industry because of the well-documented health effects of the omega 3 fatty acids in the fish oil [1]. Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids including omega 3 fatty acids are highly susceptible to lipid oxidation due...... to the many double bonds. Emulsions of fish oil in water are potential candidates for a delivery system of fish oil to food products. It has been suggested that oxidation of oil-in-water emulsions is initiated at the interface between oil and water. It has also been proposed that oxidation is to some extent...... is to characterize fish oil in water emulsions with respect to oil droplet size, distribution, and ultimately to view the structure and thickness of the interface layer. A freeze-fractured surface viewed at low temperatures under the scanning electron microscope is a promising strategy to reveal variations...

  9. Comparison of solid-phase cytometry and the plate count method for the evaluation of the survival of bacteria in pharmaceutical oils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Prijck, K; Peeters, E; Nelis, H J

    2008-12-01

    To compare the survival of four bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) in pharmaceutical oils, including jojoba oil/tea tree oil, carbol oil, jojoba oil and sesame oil. Oils were spiked with the test bacteria in a concentration of 10(4) CFU ml(-1). Bacteria were extracted from oils with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.5% Tween 20. Aliquots of the pooled water layers were analysed by solid-phase cytometry and plate counting. Plate counts dropped to zero for all test strains exposed for 24 h to three of the four oils. In contrast, significant numbers of viable cells were still detected by SPC, except in the jojoba oil/tea tree oil mixture and partly in sesame oil. Exposure of bacteria for 24 h to the two oils containing an antimicrobial led to a loss of their culturability but not necessarily of their viability. The antibacterial activity of the jojoba oil/tea tree oil mixture supersedes that of carbol oil. These in vitro data suggest that the jojoba oil/tea tree oil mixture more than carbol oil inhibits bacterial proliferation when used for intermittent self-catherization.

  10. Analytical Estimation of Water-Oil Relative Permeabilities through Fractures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saboorian-Jooybari Hadi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Modeling multiphase flow through fractures is a key issue for understanding flow mechanism and performance prediction of fractured petroleum reservoirs, geothermal reservoirs, underground aquifers and carbon-dioxide sequestration. One of the most challenging subjects in modeling of fractured petroleum reservoirs is quantifying fluids competition for flow in fracture network (relative permeability curves. Unfortunately, there is no standard technique for experimental measurement of relative permeabilities through fractures and the existing methods are very expensive, time consuming and erroneous. Although, several formulations were presented to calculate fracture relative permeability curves in the form of linear and power functions of flowing fluids saturation, it is still unclear what form of relative permeability curves must be used for proper modeling of flow through fractures and consequently accurate reservoir simulation. Basically, the classic linear relative permeability (X-type curves are used in almost all of reservoir simulators. In this work, basic fluid flow equations are combined to develop a new simple analytical model for water-oil two phase flow in a single fracture. The model gives rise to simple analytic formulations for fracture relative permeabilities. The model explicitly proves that water-oil relative permeabilities in fracture network are functions of fluids saturation, viscosity ratio, fluids density, inclination of fracture plane from horizon, pressure gradient along fracture and rock matrix wettability, however they were considered to be only functions of saturations in the classic X-type and power (Corey [35] and Honarpour et al. [28, 29] models. Eventually, validity of the proposed formulations is checked against literature experimental data. The proposed fracture relative permeability functions have several advantages over the existing ones. Firstly, they are explicit functions of the parameters which are known for

  11. Caractérisation de quelques stabilisants naturels de l'émulsion d'eau dans le pétrole brut, grace à l'extension de la technique de "moussage" au système liquide-liquide eau-huile Characterising Several Natural Stabilizants of Water Emulsion in Crude Oil by Extending the "Foaming" Technique to Oil/Water Liquid-Liquid Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Coste J. -F.

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available L'extension de la technique, de " moussage "au système liquide-liquide eau-pétrole brut a permis d'augmenter la concentration d'une fraction du pétrole en acides naphténiques, amines, asphaltènes et porphyrines, grâce à l'accroissement de l'aire de l'interface entre les deux phases non miscibles. Ces espèces chimiques présentes à l'interface favorisent la formation des films entre les gouttelettes de phase aqueuse dispersée. Elles sont à l'origine de la stabilité de I'émulsion d'eau dans le pétrole. The " foaming " technique was extended to a water/crude-oil liquid-liquid system so as to increase the concentration of naphthenic acids, amines, asphaltenes and porphyrins in an oil fraction by enlarging the interface orea between the two immiscible phases. The presence of these chemical species at the interface promotes the formation of films between the dispersed aqueuss-phase droplets. They are at the origin of the stability of a water in oil emulsion.

  12. Depletion of compounds from thin oil films in seawater

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brakstad, O.G.; Faksness, L.G.; Melbye, A.G.

    2002-01-01

    When oil is spilled on water, the oil compounds distribute between droplets and water-soluble phases in the water column. Some small organic acids, phenols, BTEX, and aromatic compounds will dissolve completely, but larger polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and alkanes will remain in the droplet fraction. The biodegradation of droplets occurs at the oil-water interface. A method for immobilizing the oil films onto hydrophobic surfaces was developed in order to obtain a stable oil surface during the biodegradation period. A test system was also established to determine the depletion of oil compounds from the oil phase, including both abiotic and biotic processes. Three North Sea oils were used in the study. Two were paraffinic oils rich in n-alkanes and aromatic compounds, and one was asphalthenic which was richer in branched alkanes and PAH. The biodegradation period was 2 months at 13 degrees C. Samples from the water and thin film on the fabric was analyzed for carbon 10 and carbon 36 by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection. Semi-volatile organic compounds were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results indicated that the depletion process for alkanes was completely caused by biodegradation, while aromatic compounds were depleted by abiotic dissolution as well as by biodegradation. The system has potential for determining oil depletion processes under controlled surface-to-volume conditions, such as thin oil films and dispersed oil droplets. In addition, the system can be used to determine the depletion process in flow-through systems. 13 refs., 3 tabs., 9 figs

  13. In Situ Raman Spectroscopic Observations of Gas-Saturated Rising Oil droplets: Simulation with Decane as an Oil-Equivalent Substitute

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peltzer, E. T.; Walz, P. M.; Brewer, P. G.

    2016-02-01

    Oil droplets rising from the sea floor, whether from seeps or well leakage, contain very large quantities of dissolved gas that profoundly affects their density and critical oil-water interfacial characteristics. The primary dissolved gas is methane which may be up to 30% of the molar volume. This can create a hydrate skin as the methane gas is shed from the oil as it rises through the water column, thus decreasing in pressure and increasing in temperature, and steadily changing the rising droplet buoyancy. We have explored this phenomenon by executing controlled ROV based experiments with a "bubble cup" technique in which a small volume of gas saturated decane (saturated with pure methane, a mix of methane and nitrogen , or a mix of methane and CO2) is interrogated by laser Raman spectroscopy. The use of decane as an oil "substitute" is required since natural oil samples are highly fluorescent due to the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We have devised Matlab techniques for extracting the spectroscopic dissolved methane signal from the thicket of decane peaks that surround it. We have directly observed the rate at which gases are lost from the "oil" per unit area at depths in the water column that are both within and outside the hydrate forming phase boundary. We have compared the behavior of both a non-hydrate forming dissolved gas (nitrogen) with CO2 where the hydrate phase boundary is at significantly shallower depth. The results indicate complex interfacial behavior and physical chemistry. We did not observe direct gas bubble formation on the decane outer surface but did observe gas bubble formation within the oil droplets as they rose through the water column. Because there are significant energy barriers for homogeneous bubble formation within the decane phase, we took this as evidence of significant gas super-saturation within the oil droplet. The gas loss rates increased significantly in all cases when the hydrate phase boundary was crossed.

  14. Stability Proxies for Water-in-Oil Emulsions and Implications in Aqueous-based Enhanced Oil Recovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehrnoosh Moradi

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Several researchers have proposed that mobility control mechanisms can positively contribute to oil recovery in the case of emulsions generated in Enhanced-Oil Recovery (EOR operations. Chemical EOR techniques that use alkaline components or/and surfactants are known to produce undesirable emulsions that create operational problems and are difficult to break. Other water-based methods have been less studied in this sense. EOR processes such as polymer flooding and LoSalTM injection require adjustments of water chemistry, mainly by lowering the ionic strength of the solution or by decreasing hardness. The decreased ionic strength of EOR solutions can give rise to more stable water-in-oil emulsions, which are speculated to improve mobility ratio between the injectant and the displaced oil. The first step toward understanding the connection between the emulsions and EOR mechanisms is to show that EOR conditions, such as salinity and hardness requirements, among others, are conducive to stabilizing emulsions. In order to do this, adequate stability proxies are required. This paper reviews commonly used emulsion stability proxies and explains the advantages and disadvantage of methods reviewed. This paper also reviews aqueous-based EOR processes with focus on heavy oil to contextualize in-situ emulsion stabilization conditions. This context sets the basis for comparison of emulsion stability proxies.

  15. Physical and oxidative stability of fish oil-in-water emulsions stabilized with beta-lactoglobulin and pectin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katsuda, Marly S; McClements, D J; Miglioranza, Lucia H S; Decker, Eric A

    2008-07-23

    The oxidation of fatty acids can be inhibited by engineering the surface of oil-in-water emulsion droplets to decrease interactions between aqueous phase prooxidants and lipids. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether emulsions stabilized by a multilayer emulsifier systems consisting of beta-lactoglobulin and citrus or sugar beet pectin could produce fish oil-in-water emulsions that had good physical and oxidative stability. Sugar beet pectin was compared to citrus pectin because the sugar beet pectin contains the known antioxidant, ferulic acid. A primary Menhaden oil-in-water emulsion was prepared with beta-lactoglobulin upon which the pectins were electrostatically deposited at pH 3.5. Emulsions prepared with 1% oil, 0.05% beta-lactoglobulin, and 0.06% pectins were physically stable for up to 16 days. As determined by monitoring lipid hydroperoxide and headspace propanal formation, emulsions prepared with the multilayer system of beta-lactoglobulin and citrus pectin were more stable than emulsions stabilized with beta-lactoglobulin alone. Emulsions prepared with the multilayer system of beta-lactoglobulin and sugar beet pectin were less stable than emulsions stabilized with beta-lactoglobulin alone despite the presence of ferulic acid in the sugar beet pectin. The lower oxidative stability of the emulsions with the sugar beet pectin could be due to its higher iron and copper concentrations which would produce oxidative stress that would overcome the antioxidant capacity of ferulic acid. These data suggest that the oxidative stability of oil-in-water emulsions containing omega-3 fatty acids could be improved by the use of multilayer emulsion systems containing pectins with low metal concentrations.

  16. Dynamic Oil-in-Water Concentration Acquisition on a Pilot-Scaled Offshore Water-Oil Separation Facility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Løhndorf, Petar Durdevic; Raju, Chitra Sangaraju; Bram, Mads Valentin

    2017-01-01

    This article is a feasibility study on using fluorescence-based oil-in-water (OiW) monitors for on-line dynamic efficiency measurement of a deoiling hydrocyclone. Dynamic measurements are crucial in the design and validation of dynamic models of the hydrocyclones, and to our knowledge, no dynamic...

  17. Molecular Dynamics Simulation: The Behavior of Asphaltene in Crude Oil and at the Oil/Water Interface

    KAUST Repository

    Gao, Fengfeng; Xu, Zhen; Liu, Guokui; Yuan, Shiling

    2014-01-01

    of the repulsion of the anionic headgroups. Anionic C5 Pe has a distinct affinity to the oil/water interface during the simulation, while the C5 Pe molecules persist in the crude oil domain. A three-stage model of anionic C5 Pe molecules adsorbed at the oil

  18. A new concept for improved oil spill containment in open waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sethness, E.D. Jr.

    1990-01-01

    In this paper a new concept for improved oil spill containment in open waters is presented. The proposed system is a combination oil boom and wave barrier. Waveguard International has taken its extensive experience as a designer of floating breakwaters and applied this knowledge into the design of a readily transportable, readily deployable floating oil boom with integrated wave attenuation capabilities as well. The new concept is based on the attenuation of the two major natural causes of oil spill dispersion; first, horizontal dispersion caused by wind shear effects; and second, vertical entrainment into the water column caused by the mixing action of wave motion. The physical encirclement of an oil spill with a floating boom to contain horizontal dispersion is not a new concept. Existing systems, however, work best in calm water and rapidly loose efficiency as waves increase. The proposed system can not only physically surround the spill area, but is as much as 90% effective in stopping the transmission of wave energy. The oil boom thus minimizes vertical mixing of the contained oil slick

  19. Two-step preparation of nano-scaled magnetic chitosan particles using Triton X-100 reversed-phase water-in-oil microemulsion system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Zhengkun; Jiang, Feihong; Lee, Tung-Ching; Yue, Tianli

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: •A new two-step route for nano-scaled magnetic chitosan particles preparation. •Triton X-100 reversed-phase microemulsion system was used for chitosan coating. •Narrow size distribution of magnetic chitosan nanoparticles was achieved. •Quantitative evaluation of recoverability for the magnetic chitosan nanoparticles. -- Abstract: A new two-step route for the preparation of nano-scaled magnetic chitosan particles has been developed, different from reported one-step in situ preparation and two-step preparation method of reversed-phase suspension, Triton X-100 reversed-phase water-in-oil microemulsion encapsulation method was employed in coating the pre-prepared Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles with chitosan. The resultant magnetic chitosan particles owned a narrow size distribution ranging from 50 to 92 nm. X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) indicated that the chitosan coating procedure did not change the spinal structure of Fe 3 O 4 magnetic nanoparticles. The results of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated that the chitosan was coated on Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles and its average mass content was ∼50%. The saturated magnetization of the magnetic Fe 3 O 4 /chitosan nanoparticles reached 18.62 emu/g, meanwhile, the nanoparticles showed the characteristics of superparamagnetism. The magnetic chitosan nanoparticles showed a high recoverability of 99.99% in 10 min when pH exceeded 4. The results suggested that the as-prepared magnetic chitosan particles were nano-scaled with a narrow size distribution and a high recoverability

  20. Petrophysical studies in heavy oil sands with early water production - Hamaca area, Orinoco Oil Belt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salisch, H.A.

    1982-07-01

    This study describes the main lines of petrophysical research in the Hamaca-Pao region of the Orinoco Oil Belt. The techniques and parameters most appropriate for petrophysical studies in the area of interest are discussed. Field tests have confirmed the conclusions of this study on early water production and low oil recovery. Steam injection was shown to be a means for increasing oil mobility to such a degree that significant amounts of additional oil can be produced.

  1. Stabilization of heavy oil-water emulsions using a bio/chemical emulsifier mixture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farahbakhsh, A.; Taghizadeh, M.; Movagharnejad, K. [Chemical Engineering Department, Babol University of Technology, Babol (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Yakhchali, B. [National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2011-11-15

    In this study, the viscosity reduction of heavy oil has been investigated through the formation of oil-water emulsion using a bio/chemical emulsifier mixture. Four bioemulsifiers from indigenous Rhodococcus ergthropolis and Bacillus licheniformis strains were used to stabilize a highly-viscous oil-in-water emulsion. The Taguchi method with an L{sub 9} orthogonal array design was used to investigate the effect of various control factors on the formation of the oil/water emulsions. An emulsion with lowest viscosity was formed using ACO4 strain. The substantial stability of the oil-in-water emulsion allows the heavy oil to be transported practically over long distances or remain stationary for a considerable period of time prior to utilization. As the result of Taguchi analysis, the temperature and concentration of the emulsifier had a significant influence on viscosity reduction of the emulsion. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  2. Preparation of Biofuel from Palm Oil Catalyzed by Ammonium Molybdate in Homogeneous Phase

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sepehr Sadighi

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Producing transportation fuels from bio sources was of prime importance due to the strict environmental legislations for producing clean fuels from conventional oil resources. However, the economical impacts of the biofuel production should be considered. In this study, the production of bio-naphtha and biodiesel from palm oil using homogeneous catalyst, i.e. an aqueous phase of ammonium molybdate, was studied. This catalyst was prepared by dissolving sodium molybdate in de-ionized water with hydrochloric acid, and then neutralizing the mixture with ammonium hydroxide. The solution was dried at 90 °C for 24 h to obtain ammonium molybdate. Then, characterization of the catalyst was done by informative techniques, such as XRD and FT-IR. The results showed that the main phase of the synthesized catalyst was molybdate ammonium hydrates (4MoO3.2NH3.H2O, and also bands of Mo–O, Mo–O–Mo, N–H and surface hydroxyl groups were observed in the sample. Moreover, activity test confirms that the bio-naphtha produced from the proposed method has a few aromatic components, and its sulfur content was negligible. Moreover, ash, nitrogen, sulfur and carbon residue were not detected in the produced biodiesel, and its Cetane index was 66.3. Therefore, it was a suitable fuel for diesel engines vehicles. Copyright © 2017 BCREC GROUP. All rights reserved Received: 3rd May 2016; Revised: 1st October 2016; Accepted: 18th October 2016 How to Cite: Sadighi, S., Targhi, S.K.M. (2017. Preparation of Biofuel from Palm Oil Catalyzed by Ammonium Molybdate in Homogeneous Phase. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 12 (1: 49-54 (doi:10.9767/bcrec.12.1.486.49-54 Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.12.1.486.49-54

  3. Water contamination from oil extraction activities in Northern Peruvian Amazonian rivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yusta-García, Raúl; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Mayor, Pedro; González-Crespo, Carlos; Rosell-Melé, Antoni

    2017-06-01

    Oil extraction activities in the Northern Peruvian Amazon have generated a long-standing socio-environmental conflict between oil companies, governmental authorities and indigenous communities, partly derived from the discharge of produced waters containing high amounts of heavy metals and hydrocarbons. To assess the impact of produced waters discharges we conducted a meta-analysis of 2951 river water and 652 produced water chemical analyses from governmental institutions and oil companies reports, collected in four Amazonian river basins (Marañon, Tigre, Corrientes and Pastaza) and their tributaries. Produced water discharges had much higher concentrations of chloride, barium, cadmium and lead than are typically found in fresh waters, resulting in the widespread contamination of the natural water courses. A significant number of water samples had levels of cadmium, barium, hexavalent chromium and lead that did not meet Peruvian and international water standards. Our study shows that spillage of produced water in Peruvian Amazon rivers placed at risk indigenous population and wildlife during several decades. Furthermore, the impact of such activities in the headwaters of the Amazon extended well beyond the boundaries of oil concessions and national borders, which should be taken into consideration when evaluating large scale anthropogenic impacts in the Amazon. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Enhanced oil recovery with surfactant flooding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buelow Sandersen, S.

    2012-05-15

    Understanding the underlying mechanisms of systems that exhibit liquid-liquid equilibrium (e.g. oil-brine systems) at reservoir conditions is an area of increasing interest within EOR. This is true both for complex surfactant systems as well as for oil and brine systems. It is widely accepted that an increase in oil recovery can be obtained through flooding, whether it is simple waterflooding, waterflooding where the salinity has been modified by the addition or removal of specific ions (socalled ''smart'' waterflooding) or surfactant flooding. High pressure experiments have been carried out in this work on a surfactant system (surfactant/ oil/ brine) and on oil/ seawater systems (oil/ brine). The high pressure experiments were carried out on a DBR JEFRI PVT cell, where a glass window allows observation of the phase behavior of the different systems at various temperatures and pressures inside the high pressure cell. Phase volumes can also be measured visually through the glass window using precision equipment. The surfactant system for which an experimental study was carried out consisted of the mixture heptane, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/ 1-butanol/ NaCl/ water. This system has previously been examined at ambient pressures and temperatures but this has been extended here to pressures up to 400 bar and to slightly higher temperatures (40 deg. C, 45 deg. C and 50 deg. C). Experiments were performed at constant salinity (6.56 %), constant surfactant-alcohol ratio (SAR) but with varying water-oil ratios (WOR). At all temperatures it was very clear that the effect of pressure was significant. The system changed from the two phase region, Winsor II, to the three phase region, Winsor III, as pressure increased. Increasing pressures also caused a shift from the three phase region (Winsor III), to a different two phase region, (Winsor I). These changes in equilibrium phase behavior were also dependent on the composition of the system. A number of

  5. Controlling the Accumulation of Water at Oil-Solid Interfaces with Gradient Coating.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yan; Yang, Qiaomu; Mei, Ran Andy; Cai, Meirong; Heng, Jerry Y Y; Yang, Zhongqiang

    2017-07-13

    In this work, we demonstrate a strategy to control the accumulation of water in the oil-solid interface using a gradient coating. Gradient chemistry on glass surface is created by vapor diffusion of organosilanes, leading to a range of contact angles from 110 to 20°. Hexadecane is placed on the gradient substrate as an oil layer, forming a "water/hexadecane/gradient solid substrate" sandwich structure. During incubation, water molecules spontaneously migrate through the micrometer-thick oil layer and result in the formation of micrometer-sized water droplets at the oil-solid interface. It turns out that water droplets at more hydrophobic regions tend to be closer to a regular spherical shape, which is attributed to their higher contact angle with the hydrophobic substrate. However, along the gradient from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, the water droplets gradually form more irregular shapes, as hydrophilic surfaces pin the edges of droplets to form a distorted morphology. It indicates that more hydrophilic surfaces containing more Si-OH groups lead to a higher electrostatic interaction with water and a higher growth rate of interfacial water droplets. This work provides further insights into the mechanism of spontaneous water accumulation at oil-solid interfaces and assists in the rational design for controlling such interfacial phenomenon.

  6. Partition of selected food preservatives in fish oil-water systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cheng, Hongyuan; Friis, Alan; Leth, Torben

    2010-01-01

    The partition coefficients (Kow) of benzoic acid and sorbic acid in systems of fish oil (sand eel)–water, fish oil–buffer solution, rape oil–water and olive oil–water were experimentally determined in a temperature range from 5 to 43 °C and pH from 4.5 to 6.5 °C. The dimerization of benzoic acid...... in fish oil–water system was observed at 25 °C. Two modifications have been made to the Nordic Food Analysis Standard for the determination of sorbic acid by HPLC. The experimental results show that the Kow of benzoic acid and sorbic acid in fish oil–buffer system is ca. 100 times lower than that in fish...... oil–water system. The Kow values of benzoic acid and sorbic acid in fish oil and water system decrease with increasing system pH values. The partition coefficients of plant origin and fish origin oils are in the same order of magnitude even though their molecular structures are very different....

  7. Numerical simulation and structural optimization of the inclined oil/water separator.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liqiong Chen

    Full Text Available Improving the separation efficiency of the inclined oil/water separator, a new type of gravity separation equipment, is of great importance. In order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the internal flow field of the separation process of oil and water within this separator, a numerical simulation based on Euler multiphase flow analysis and the realizable k-ε two equation turbulence model was executed using Fluent software. The optimal value ranges of the separator's various structural parameters used in the numerical simulation were selected through orthogonal array experiments. A field experiment on the separator was conducted with optimized structural parameters in order to validate the reliability of the numerical simulation results. The research results indicated that the horizontal position of the dispenser, the hole number, and the diameter had significant effects on the oil/water separation efficiency, and that the longitudinal position of the dispenser and the position of the weir plate had insignificant effects on the oil/water separation efficiency. The optimal structural parameters obtained through the orthogonal array experiments resulted in an oil/water separation efficiency of up to 95%, which was 4.996% greater than that realized by the original structural parameters.

  8. Watered down : overcoming federal inaction on the impact of oil sands development to water resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Droitsch, D.

    2009-11-01

    The oil sands industry is having a negative impact on Canada's fresh water resources and aquatic ecosystems. Members of the Government of the Northwest Territories (NT) and experts from scientific, non-governmental, and First Nations groups have stated at federal hearings that the federal government must involve itself in the protection of Canada's water resources. This report discussed compelling testimony from recent federal hearings by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.The federal government must establish enforceable standards for key toxic substances created by oil sands activity. A water-sharing agreement must be established between Alberta, NT, Saskatchewan, and First Nations governments. Other recommendations included the establishment of a peer-reviewed assessment of the health impacts of industrial oil sands development on First Nations communities; the establishment of cumulative effects assessment procedures; the identification and protection of listed species at risk; and the establishment of proactive measures designed to ensure that oil sands operators pay for the environmental damage caused to water resources. 94 refs., 4 figs.

  9. Formulation and Stabilization of Concentrated Edible Oil-in-Water Emulsions Based on Electrostatic Complexes of a Food-Grade Cationic Surfactant (Ethyl Lauroyl Arginate) and Cellulose Nanocrystals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bai, Long; Xiang, Wenchao; Huan, Siqi; Rojas, Orlando J

    2018-05-14

    We report on high-internal-phase, oil-in-water Pickering emulsions that are stable against coalescence during storage. Viscous, edible oil (sunflower) was emulsified by combining naturally derived cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and a food-grade, biobased cationic surfactant obtained from lauric acid and L-arginine (ethyl lauroyl arginate, LAE). The interactions between CNC and LAE were elucidated by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and supplementary techniques. LAE adsorption on CNC surfaces and its effect on nanoparticle electrostatic stabilization, aggregation state, and emulsifying ability was studied and related to the properties of resultant oil-in-water emulsions. Pickering systems with tunable droplet diameter and stability against oil coalescence during long-term storage were controllably achieved depending on LAE loading. The underlying stabilization mechanism was found to depend on the type of complex formed, the LAE structures adsorbed on the cellulose nanoparticles (as unimer or as adsorbed admicelles), the presence of free LAE in the aqueous phase, and the equivalent alkane number of the oil phase (sunflower and dodecane oils were compared). The results extend the potential of CNC in the formulation of high-quality and edible Pickering emulsions. The functional properties imparted by LAE, a highly effective molecule against food pathogens and spoilage organisms, open new opportunities in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical applications, where the presence of CNC plays a critical role in achieving synergistic effects with LAE.

  10. Dielectric Properties of Flocculated Water-in-Oil Emulsions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Skodvin, T.

    1995-12-31

    When an offshore oil field is near completion, water occupies a large fraction of the available pore volume. Thus, in collecting the oil and gas reserves, one has to deal with a high co-production of either formation- or injected water. This doctoral thesis focuses on the effect of water-in-oil emulsions on the dielectric properties, in particular the effect of flocculation. Various dielectric models are applied to obtain methods for qualitative and quantitative characterization of the flocculated state. Permittivity and measurement of dielectric properties are discussed as a basis for the interpretation of the dielectric properties of the emulsions. Various flocculation models are presented. It is concluded that the dielectric properties of water-in-oil emulsions are strongly influenced by continuously ongoing processes in the system. Because of flocculation and sedimentation the traditional dielectric mixture models cannot satisfactorily predict the dielectric behaviour. The experimentally obtained permittivities for the emulsions can be reproduced by including flocculation in the models and treating the floc aggregates as spheroids or subsystems with dielectric properties given by the degree of flocculation. The models discussed have difficulties reproducing the complete frequency behaviour found experimentally. This is probably because the dielectric relaxation may be influenced by processes not included in the models, such as the effects of dipolar or multipolar interactions between the droplets. For further research it is recommended that rheological and dielectric measurements be combined. 227 refs., 61 figs., 16 tabs.

  11. Dielectric Properties of Flocculated Water-in-Oil Emulsions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Skodvin, T

    1996-12-31

    When an offshore oil field is near completion, water occupies a large fraction of the available pore volume. Thus, in collecting the oil and gas reserves, one has to deal with a high co-production of either formation- or injected water. This doctoral thesis focuses on the effect of water-in-oil emulsions on the dielectric properties, in particular the effect of flocculation. Various dielectric models are applied to obtain methods for qualitative and quantitative characterization of the flocculated state. Permittivity and measurement of dielectric properties are discussed as a basis for the interpretation of the dielectric properties of the emulsions. Various flocculation models are presented. It is concluded that the dielectric properties of water-in-oil emulsions are strongly influenced by continuously ongoing processes in the system. Because of flocculation and sedimentation the traditional dielectric mixture models cannot satisfactorily predict the dielectric behaviour. The experimentally obtained permittivities for the emulsions can be reproduced by including flocculation in the models and treating the floc aggregates as spheroids or subsystems with dielectric properties given by the degree of flocculation. The models discussed have difficulties reproducing the complete frequency behaviour found experimentally. This is probably because the dielectric relaxation may be influenced by processes not included in the models, such as the effects of dipolar or multipolar interactions between the droplets. For further research it is recommended that rheological and dielectric measurements be combined. 227 refs., 61 figs., 16 tabs.

  12. Influence of aqueous phase on electrochemical biocorrosion tests in diesel/water systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bento, F.M. [Dept. of Soils, Faculty of Agronomy, UFRGS, 7712 Bento Goncalves Avenue, CEP: 91540-001, POA, RS (Brazil); Englert, G.E.; Muller, I.L. [Dept. of Metallurgy, Biocorrosion and Biofilms Lab, UFRGS, 99 Osvaldo Aranha Avenue s.615D, CEP: 90035-190, POA, RS (Brazil); Gaylarde, C.C. [Dept. of Biophisics, UFRGS POA, RS (Brazil)

    2004-08-01

    Storage tanks containing microbially contaminated diesel oil are susceptible to corrosion. This process may be evaluated electrochemically in the laboratory using simulated storage systems containing diesel oil and an aqueous phase. The simulated aqueous phase must supply mineral nutrients for microbial growth, together with adequate electrical conductivity, without, however, being too corrosive, so as to allow the aggressive nature of the microbial metabolites to be detected. In this investigation, microbial growth was measured in six electrically conductive media overlaid with metropolitan diesel oil containing an additive package. The microorganisms were the filamentous fungi, Hormoconis resinae, Paecilomyces variotii and Aspergillus fumigatus, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis and the yeast Candida silvicola, all previously isolated from contaminated diesel oil. After 60 days incubation with pure or mixed inocula of these microorganisms, pH, conductivity and viable microorganisms were measured. The electrochemical behaviour of carbon steel ASTM 283-93-C was determined in each of the six media (uninoculated) and in selected inoculated medium via measurements of open circuit potential and potentiostatic polarization curves. The uptake of phosphate (corrosion inhibitor), microbial growth, pH, conductivity and anodic and cathodic polarization curves were assessed in the water phase after 30 and 60 days of incubation with each single species Aspergillus fumigatus and Hormoconis resinae and with the consortium. The medium which proved most appropriate was Bushnell-Haas medium modified by the omission of chlorides, which allowed satisfactory microbial growth and had low aggressivity towards the steel. The performance of electrochemical tests in aerated, rather than deaerated, electrolyte solutions is suggested to be important to allow the detection of microbial influence on passive film formation and stability. (Abstract Copyright [2004], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

  13. Phase equilibria of microemulsion forming system n-decyl-(beta)-D-glucopyranoside/water/n-octane/1-butanol

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kahl, Heike; Quitzsch, Konrad; Stenby, Erling Halfdan

    1997-01-01

    of multicomponent system is the coexistence of a highly structural liquid phase enriched with amphiphilic compounds and an excess water or an excess oil phase or both of them. The phase behaviour was studied experimentally by use of turbidity titration and HPLC measurements and theoretically by application...... of the UNIQUAC-equation and the UNIFAC-method. The UNIFAC-method is able to describe the phase behaviour in the quaternary system qualitatively, without fitting parameters. However, by applying the UNIQUAC-method, with adjustable parameters, it was only possible to model the ternary subsystems. The modelling......A systematic investigation of the phase behaviour involving microemulsions is presented with respect to experimental and calculated data for the four-component system n-decyl-(beta)-D-glucopyranoside/water/n-octane/1-butanol and its corresponding ternaries at 25°C. The main feature of this kind...

  14. Influence of oil and mineral characteristics on oil-mineral interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wood, P.A.; Lunel, T.; Daniel, F.; Swannell, R.; Lee, K.; Stoffyn-Egli, P.

    1998-01-01

    A laboratory study was conducted to simulate the process of oil-mineral interaction in seawater. Thirteen different crudes, emulsions and oil products were used in the study. The objective was to improve the fundamental understanding of the characteristics of oils and minerals that influence the process. The findings of an initial phase of studies based on the swirling flask and marine simulation procedures were also described. Oil content associated with flocs to oil and mineral characteristics were discussed. Emulsions were prepared at 10 degrees C by vigorously mixing the oil with excess artificial seawater in a Kilner jar using a high shear homogenizer. Topped oils were prepared by distillation to 250 degrees C. The biodegraded oil was prepared from the topped crude oil. Biodegradation was achieved over a 28 day period using natural seawater and naturally occurring hydrocarbon degraders. The relationships between oil concentration, oil density and mineral exchange capacity were determined. The study showed that greater oil concentrations in the water column could be expected with (1) the presence of mineral fines, (2) minerals with greater cation exchange rates, (3) minerals with finer sizes, and (4) oils of lower viscosity and density. It was determined that in coastal waters the viscosity of the oil/emulsion will likely be the main factor affecting oil-mineral interactions. The viscosity limit for allowing oil fines interaction is likely to be dependent on the energy in the coastal zone affected by the oil pollution. 18 refs., 5 tabs., 13 figs

  15. 40 CFR 63.137 - Process wastewater provisions-oil-water separators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... wastewater provisions—oil-water separators. (a) For each oil-water separator that receives, manages, or...; (2) A floating roof meeting the requirements in 40 CFR part 60, subpart QQQ § 60.693-2 (a)(1)(i), (a... to construct and operate a floating roof, such as over the weir mechanism, the owner or operator...

  16. Oil spill dispersants. Risk assessment for Swedish waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindgren, C.; Lager, H.; Fejes, J.

    2001-12-01

    IVL has compiled a list of the international usage of oil spill dispersants and presents the technical limitations with the use of such agents as well as the biological effects of these chemical products. IVL, has also conducted an analysis of the pros and cons to using dispersants against oil spills in waters and has applied this with a risk assessment of chemical methods to combat oil spills in the Kattegat and Skagerrak and the Baltic Sea

  17. The Phase Behavior of γ-Oryzanol and β-Sitosterol in Edible Oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawalha, Hassan; Venema, Paul; Bot, Arjen; Flöter, Eckhard; Adel, Ruud den; van der Linden, Erik

    The phase behavior of binary mixtures of γ-oryzanol and β-sitosterol and ternary mixtures of γ-oryzanol and β-sitosterol in sunflower oil was studied. Binary mixtures of γ-oryzanol and β-sitosterol show double-eutectic behavior. Complex phase behavior with two intermediate mixed solid phases was derived from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data, in which a compound that consists of γ-oryzanol and β-sitosterol molecules at a specific ratio can be formed. SAXS shows that the organization of γ-oryzanol and β-sitosterol in the mixed phases is different from the structure of tubules in ternary systems. Ternary mixtures including sunflower oil do not show a sudden structural transition from the compound to a tubule, but a gradual transition occurs as γ-oryzanol and β-sitosterol are diluted in edible oil. The same behavior is observed when melting binary mixtures of γ-oryzanol and β-sitosterol at higher temperatures. This indicates the feasibility of having an organogelling agent in dynamic exchange between solid and liquid phase, which is an essential feature of triglyceride networks.

  18. Innocuous oil as an additive for reductive reactions involving zero valence iron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cary, J.W.; Cantrell, K.J.

    1994-11-01

    Reductive reactions involving zero valence iron appear to hold promise for in situ remediation of sites containing chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents and certain reducible metals and radionuclides. Treatment involves the injection of metallic iron and the creation of low levels of dissolved oxygen in the aqueous phase through oxidation of the metallic iron. The use of a biodegradable immiscible and innocuous organic liquid such as vegetable oil as an additive offers several intriguing possibilities. The oil phase creates a large oil-water interface that is immobile with respect to flow in the aqueous phase. This phase will act as a trap for chlorinated hydrocarbons and could potentially increase the reaction efficiency of reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated hydrocarbons by the metallic iron. When iron particles are suspended in the oil before injection they are preferentially held in the oil phase and tend to accumulate at the oil-water interface. Thus oil injection can serve as a mechanism for creating a stable porous curtain of metallic iron in the vadose to maintain a low oxygen environment which will minimize the consumption of the iron by molecular oxygen

  19. Analysis of triglyceride degradation products in drying oils and oil paints using LC–ESI-MS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Dam, E.P.; van den Berg, K.J.; Proaño Gaibor, A.N.; van Bommel, M.

    An LC–ESI-MS method is presented as a novel approach for the study of aged drying oils and oil paints invarious stages of oxidation and hydrolysis. The method involves separation and detection of glyceridesand fatty acids on a reversed phase column using a polar gradient ranging from methanol/water

  20. Oil Spill Adsorption Capacity of Activated Carbon Tablets from Corncobs in Simulated Oil-Water Mixture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rhonalyn V. Maulion

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Oil spill in bodies of water is one of severe environmental problems that is facing all over the country and in the world. Since oil is an integral part of the economy, increasing trend for its demand and transport of has led to a great treat in the surface water. One of the promising techniques in the removal of the oil spills in water bodies is adsorption using activated carbon form waste material such as corn cobs. The purpose of this study is to determine the adsorption capacity of activated carbon tablets derived from corncobs in the removal of oil. The properties of activated carbon produced have a pH of 7.0, bulk density of 0.26 g//cm3 , average pore size of 45nm, particle size of 18% at 60 mesh and 39% at 80 mesh, iodine number of 1370 mg/g and surface area of 1205 g/m2. The amount of bentonite clay as binder (15%,20%,30%, number of ACT (1,2,3 and time of contact(30,60,90 mins has been varied to determine the optimum condition where the activated carbon will have the best adsorption capacity in the removal of oil. Results showed that at 15% binder, 60 mins contact time and 3 tablets of activated carbon is the optimum condition which give a percentage adsorption of 22.82% of oil. Experimental data also showed that a Langmuir isotherm was the best fit isotherm for adsorption of ACT.

  1. Electroporation of micro-droplet encapsulated HeLa cells in oil phase

    KAUST Repository

    Xiao, Kang; Zhang, Mengying; Chen, Shuyu; Wang, Limu; Chang, Donald Choy; Wen, Weijia

    2010-01-01

    Electroporation (EP) is a method widely used to introduce foreign genes, drugs or dyes into cells by permeabilizing the plasma membrane with an external electric field. A variety of microfluidic EP devices have been reported so far. However, further integration of prior and posterior EP processes turns out to be very complicated, mainly due to the difficulty of developing an efficient method for precise manipulation of cells in microfluidics. In this study, by means of a T-junction structure within a delicate microfluidic device, we encapsulated HeLa cells in micro-droplet of poration medium in oil phase before EP, which has two advantages: (i) precise control of cell-encapsulating droplets in oil phase is much easier than the control of cell populations or individuals in aqueous buffers; (ii) this can minimize the electrochemical reactions on the electrodes. Finally, we successfully introduced fluorescent dyes into the micro-droplet encapsulated HeLa cells in oil phase. Our results reflected a novel way to realize the integrated biomicrofluidic system for EP. © 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

  2. Electroporation of micro-droplet encapsulated HeLa cells in oil phase

    KAUST Repository

    Xiao, Kang

    2010-08-27

    Electroporation (EP) is a method widely used to introduce foreign genes, drugs or dyes into cells by permeabilizing the plasma membrane with an external electric field. A variety of microfluidic EP devices have been reported so far. However, further integration of prior and posterior EP processes turns out to be very complicated, mainly due to the difficulty of developing an efficient method for precise manipulation of cells in microfluidics. In this study, by means of a T-junction structure within a delicate microfluidic device, we encapsulated HeLa cells in micro-droplet of poration medium in oil phase before EP, which has two advantages: (i) precise control of cell-encapsulating droplets in oil phase is much easier than the control of cell populations or individuals in aqueous buffers; (ii) this can minimize the electrochemical reactions on the electrodes. Finally, we successfully introduced fluorescent dyes into the micro-droplet encapsulated HeLa cells in oil phase. Our results reflected a novel way to realize the integrated biomicrofluidic system for EP. © 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

  3. Phase-transfer catalysis and ultrasonic waves II: saponification of vegetable oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Entezari, M H; Keshavarzi, A

    2001-07-01

    Saponification of oils which is a commercially important heterogeneous reaction, can be speeded up by the application of ultrasound in the presence of phase-transfer catalyst (PTC). This paper focuses on the ability of ultrasound to cause efficient mixing of this liquid-liquid heterogeneous reaction. Castor oil was taken as a model oil and the kinetic of the reaction was followed by the extent of saponification. The hydrolysis of castor oil was carried out with different PTC such as cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), benzyl triethyl ammonium chloride (BTAC) and tetrabutyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) in aqueous alkaline solution. As hydroxyl anion moves very slowly from aqueous to oil phase, the presence of a PTC is of prime importance. For this purpose, cationic surfactants are selected. The sonication of biphasic system were performed by 20 kHz (simple horn and cup horn) and 900 kHz. It was found that CTAB was better than the two others and this could be related to the molecular structure of the PTCs. The effect of temperature was also studied on the saponification process. By increasing the temperature, the yield was also increased and this could be explained by intermolecular forces, interfacial tension and mass transfer. Saponification of three different vegetable oils shows that the almond oil is saponified easier than the two others and this could be related to their properties such as surface tension, viscosity and density.

  4. Performance of photocatalyst based carbon nanodots from waste frying oil in water purification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aji, Mahardika Prasetya; Wiguna, Pradita Ajeng; Susanto,; Rosita, Nita; Suciningtyas, Siti Aisyah; Sulhadi

    2016-01-01

    Carbon Nanodots (C-Dots) from waste frying oil could be used as a photocatalyst in water purification with solar light irradiation. Performance of C-Dots as a photocatalyst was tested in the process of water purification with a given synthetic sewage methylene blue. The tested was also conducted by comparing the performance C-Dots made from frying oil, waste fryng oil as a photocatalyst and solution of methylene blue without photocatalyst C-Dots. Performance of C-Dots from waste frying oil were estimated by the results of absorbance spectrum. The results of measurement absorbance spectrum from the process of water purification with photocatalyst C-Dots showed that the highest intensity at a wavelength 664 nm of methylene blue decreased. The test results showed that the performance of photocatalyst C-Dots from waste frying oil was better in water purification. This estimated that number of particles C-dots is more in waste frying oil because have experieced repeated the heating process so that the higher particles concentration make the photocatalyst process more effective. The observation of the performance C-Dots from waste frying oil as a photocatalyst in the water purification processes become important invention for solving the problems of waste and water purification.

  5. Performance of photocatalyst based carbon nanodots from waste frying oil in water purification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aji, Mahardika Prasetya, E-mail: mahardika190@gmail.com; Wiguna, Pradita Ajeng; Susanto,; Rosita, Nita; Suciningtyas, Siti Aisyah; Sulhadi [Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science Universitas Negeri Semarang, Jalan Raya Sekaran Gunungpati 50229 Indonesia (Indonesia)

    2016-04-19

    Carbon Nanodots (C-Dots) from waste frying oil could be used as a photocatalyst in water purification with solar light irradiation. Performance of C-Dots as a photocatalyst was tested in the process of water purification with a given synthetic sewage methylene blue. The tested was also conducted by comparing the performance C-Dots made from frying oil, waste fryng oil as a photocatalyst and solution of methylene blue without photocatalyst C-Dots. Performance of C-Dots from waste frying oil were estimated by the results of absorbance spectrum. The results of measurement absorbance spectrum from the process of water purification with photocatalyst C-Dots showed that the highest intensity at a wavelength 664 nm of methylene blue decreased. The test results showed that the performance of photocatalyst C-Dots from waste frying oil was better in water purification. This estimated that number of particles C-dots is more in waste frying oil because have experieced repeated the heating process so that the higher particles concentration make the photocatalyst process more effective. The observation of the performance C-Dots from waste frying oil as a photocatalyst in the water purification processes become important invention for solving the problems of waste and water purification.

  6. Studies of water-in-oil emulsions : testing of emulsion formation in OHMSETT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fingas, M.; Fieldhouse, B.

    2001-01-01

    A study was conducted to determine the stability of water-in-oil emulsions in the OHMSETT tank facility. The results were then compared with previous laboratory studies which suggested that the stability of emulsions can be grouped into four categories, stable, unstable, meso-stable and entrained. It has been determined that entrained emulsions can retain oil by viscous forces long enough for interfacial agents, resins and asphaltenes to stabilize the droplets. This paper also described the difference in viscosity between the 4 categories of emulsion stability. The OHMSETT tests were conducted in two series of one week each. The first series of tests were conducted in July and involved 12 experiments on 2 different types of oils which were placed at varying thicknesses on the water. The second set of tests were conducted in November and involved 12 experiments on 6 oils. The rheological properties of the oils were measured and compared to the same oils undergoing emulsification in the laboratory. The oils and water-in-oil states produced were found to have analogous properties between the laboratory and the first set of tests at the OHMSETT facility. All the oils tested produced entrained water-in-oil states in both the laboratory and the test tank. The energy in the two test conditions was found to be similar, with the OHMSETT emulsions similar to one produced in the laboratory at high energies. The second series of tests at OHMSETT did not result in the expected water in-oil- states. This unexpected result was most likely due to the residual surfactant from an earlier dispersant experiment. The study showed that the conditions for emulsion formation are analogous in the OHMSETT tank and in the laboratory tests. The level of energy is considered to be the major variant. It was concluded that the energy levels between the laboratory mixing experiments and the OHMSETT is similar. It was shown that surfactants left over from dispersant testing inhibited the formation

  7. Method of and device for detecting oil pollutions on water surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belov, Michael Leonidovich [Moscow, RU; Gorodnichev, Victor Aleksandrovich [Moscow, RU; Kozintsev, Valentin Ivanovich [Moscow, RU; Smimova, Olga Alekseevna [Moscow, RU; Fedotov, Yurii Victorovich [Moscow, RU; Khroustaleva, Anastasiva Michailovnan [Moscow, RU

    2008-08-26

    Detection of oil pollution on water surfaces includes providing echo signals obtained from optical radiation of a clean water area at two wavelengths, optically radiating an investigated water area at two wavelengths and obtaining echo signals from the optical radiation of the investigated water area at the two wavelengths, comparing the echo signals obtained from the radiation of the investigated area at two wavelengths with the echo signals obtained from the radiation of the clean water area, and based on the comparison, determining presence or absence of oil pollution in the investigated water area.

  8. Fabrication and evaluation of nanocellulose sponge for oil/water separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phanthong, Patchiya; Reubroycharoen, Prasert; Kongparakul, Suwadee; Samart, Chanatip; Wang, Zhongde; Hao, Xiaogang; Abudula, Abuliti; Guan, Guoqing

    2018-06-15

    Nanocellulose sponge was fabricated by a facile method: freeze-drying of nanocellulose aqueous suspension to sponge state, following by hydrophobic treatment with stearoyl chloride at 50 °C for 1 h. The obtained nanocellulose sponge showed superhydrophobicity (160° of water contact angle) and superoleophilicity with high protection from water but selective absorption of oil. Its absorption capacities for various kinds of oil and non-polar liquids were 25-55 times higher than its dry weight and exhibited excellent selectivity for absorbing of oil which spilled on the surface of water or underwater with high separation efficiency. This superhydrophobic nanocellulose sponge can be easily recovered by simple squeezing and reused at least 10 cycles with remained high separation efficiency. It is expected that such a biodegradable nanocellulose sponge can be applied to solve the oil spill accident and treat the oily wastewater from households and industries. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Centrifugal Pump Effect on Average Particle Diameter of Oil-Water Emulsion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morozova, A.; Eskin, A.

    2017-11-01

    In this paper we review the process of oil-water emulsion particles fragmentation in a turbulent flow created by a centrifugal pump. We examined the influence of time necessary for oil-water emulsion preparation on the particle size of oil products and the dependence of a centrifugal pump emulsifying capacity on the initial emulsion dispersion. The investigated emulsion contained the brand fuel oil M-100 and tap water; it was sprayed with a nozzle in a gas-water flare. After preparation of the emulsion, the centrifugal pump was turned on and the emulsion samples were taken before and after the pump passing in 15, 30 and 45 minutes of spraying. To determine the effect the centrifugal pump has on the dispersion of the oil-water emulsion, the mean particle diameter of the emulsion particles was determined by the optical and microscopic method before and after the pump passing. A dispersion analysis of the particles contained in the emulsion was carried out by a laser diffraction analyzer. By analyzing the pictures of the emulsion samples, it was determined that after the centrifugal pump operation a particle size of oil products decreases. This result is also confirmed by the distribution of the obtained analyzer where the content of fine particles with a diameter less than 10 μm increased from 12% to 23%. In case of increasing emulsion preparation time, a particle size of petroleum products also decreases.

  10. Efficiency of preliminary discharge of stratum water in Tuymazinskoe oil field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almukhametova, E. M.; Akimov, A. V.; Kalinina, S. V.; Fatkullin, I. F.; Gizetdinov, I. A.

    2017-10-01

    The high water content of oil is a common occurrence for many Russian fields at the late stage of development. Due to the elimination of associated water in oil, the overload of field pipelines often takes place. Products are often collected by a one-pipe system, which means that the formation water is discharged using special plants PWDS. Research workers have made it clear that the complexity of production “BashNIPIneft” and OGPD “Tuymazaneft” on Tuimazy field was due to the fact that the collection of production, in most cases, uses a centralized system, which loses its advantages when there is a large content of water in the emulsions. Research has indicated that the reagents, used in the field, proved to be ineffective, as the oil of Devonian formations is heavily saturated with paraffins. But, ultimately, the most effective agents for the destruction of emulsions have been nonetheless identified. This paper describes the implementation of the system of track discharge of formation water, which is currently in use for many oil companies not only in Russia but also worldwide.

  11. Water Pollution, and Treatments Part III: Biodegradation of Oil in Refineries Waste Water and Oils Adsorbed in Agricultural Wastes by Selected Strains of Cyanobacteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Emary, M.M.; Ali, N.A.; Naguib, M.M.

    2011-01-01

    The main objective of this study is to determine the biological degradation of oil hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds of Marine Balayim crude oil and its refined products by selected indigenous Cyanobacteria strains. The oils used were Marine Balayim crude oil, skimmed oil and some refined products such as gasoline, kerosene, gas oil, fuel oil and petroleum coke. The selected organisms in the current study are the Blue-Green Algae Cyanobacteria, Oscillatoria limentica. This organism was collected from the hyper saline environment of the solar lake in Taba, Sinai, Egypt. The results obtained revealed that the utilization of such strains can be used for the bioremediation of oily waste water.

  12. Determination of flow rates of oil, water and gas in pipelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roach, G J; Watt, J S; Zastawny, H W [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia). Div. of Mineral Physics

    1994-12-31

    This paper describes a multiphase flow meter developed by CSIRO for determining of the flow rates of oil, water and gas in high pressure pipelines, and the results of a trial of this flow meter on an offshore oil platform. Two gamma-ray transmission gauges are mounted about a pipeline carrying the full flow of oil, water and gas. The flow rates are determined by combining single energy gamma-ray transmission measurements which determine the mass per unit area of fluids in the gamma-ray beam as a function of time, dual energy gamma-ray transmission (DUET) which determine the approximate mass fraction of oil in the liquids, cross-correlation of gamma-ray transmission measurements, with one gauge upstream of the other, which determines flow velocity, pressure and temperature measurements, and knowledge of the specific gravities of oil and (salt) water, and solubility of the gas in the liquids, all as a function of pressure and temperature. 3 figs.

  13. Determination of flow rates of oil, water and gas in pipelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roach, G.J.; Watt, J.S.; Zastawny, H.W. [Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia). Div. of Mineral Physics

    1993-12-31

    This paper describes a multiphase flow meter developed by CSIRO for determining of the flow rates of oil, water and gas in high pressure pipelines, and the results of a trial of this flow meter on an offshore oil platform. Two gamma-ray transmission gauges are mounted about a pipeline carrying the full flow of oil, water and gas. The flow rates are determined by combining single energy gamma-ray transmission measurements which determine the mass per unit area of fluids in the gamma-ray beam as a function of time, dual energy gamma-ray transmission (DUET) which determine the approximate mass fraction of oil in the liquids, cross-correlation of gamma-ray transmission measurements, with one gauge upstream of the other, which determines flow velocity, pressure and temperature measurements, and knowledge of the specific gravities of oil and (salt) water, and solubility of the gas in the liquids, all as a function of pressure and temperature. 3 figs.

  14. Determination of flow rates of oil, water and gas in pipelines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roach, G.J.; Watt, J.S.; Zastawny, H.W.

    1993-01-01

    This paper describes a multiphase flow meter developed by CSIRO for determining of the flow rates of oil, water and gas in high pressure pipelines, and the results of a trial of this flow meter on an offshore oil platform. Two gamma-ray transmission gauges are mounted about a pipeline carrying the full flow of oil, water and gas. The flow rates are determined by combining single energy gamma-ray transmission measurements which determine the mass per unit area of fluids in the gamma-ray beam as a function of time, dual energy gamma-ray transmission (DUET) which determine the approximate mass fraction of oil in the liquids, cross-correlation of gamma-ray transmission measurements, with one gauge upstream of the other, which determines flow velocity, pressure and temperature measurements, and knowledge of the specific gravities of oil and (salt) water, and solubility of the gas in the liquids, all as a function of pressure and temperature. 3 figs

  15. Superoleophillic electrospun polystrene/exofoliated graphite fibre for selective removal of crude oil from water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alayande, S. Oluwagbemiga; Dare, Enock O.; Olorundare, F. O. Grace; Nkosi, D.; Msagati, Titus A. M.; Mamba, B. B.

    2016-04-01

    During oil spills, the aquatic environment is greatly endangered because oil floats on water making the penetration of sunlight difficult therefore primary productivity is compromised, birds and aquatic organisms are totally eliminated within a short period. It is therefore essential to remove the oil from the water bodies after the spillage. This work reports on the fabrication of oil loving electrospun polystyrene-exofoliated graphite fibre with hydrophobic and oleophillic surface properties. The fibre was applied for the selective adsorption of crude oil from simulated crude oil spillage on water. The maximum oil adsorption capacity of the EPS/EG was 1.15 kg/g in 20 min while the lowest oil adsorption capacity was 0.81 kg/g in 10 min. Cheap oil adsorbent was developed with superoleophillic and superhydrophobic properties.

  16. Development and validation of reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography for citral analysis from essential oils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaonkar, Roopa; Yallappa, S; Dhananjaya, B L; Hegde, Gurumurthy

    2016-11-15

    Citral is a widely used monoterpene aldehyde in aromatherapy, food and pesticide industries. A new validated reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP - HPLC) procedure for the detection and quantification of cis-trans isomers of citral was developed. The RP-HPLC analysis was carried out using Enable C - 18G column (250×4.6mm, 5μ), with acetonitrile and water (70: 30) mobile phase in isocratic mode at 1mL/min flow. A photodiode array (PDA) detector was set at 233nm for the detection of citral. The method showed linearity, selectivity and accuracy for citral in the range of 3-100μg/mL. In order to compare the new RP-HPLC method with the available methods, one of the commercially available essential oil from Cymbopogon flexuosus was analyzed using new RP-HPLC method and the same was analyzed using GC-MS for the comparison of the method for the detection of citral. The GC-MS analysis was done using mass selective detector (MSD) showed citral content to be of 72.76%; wherein the new method showed to contain that same at 74.98%. To prove the application of the new method, essential oils were extracted from lemongrass, lemon leaves and mosambi peels by steam distillation. The citral content present in the essential and also in the condensate was analyzed. The method was found to be suitable for the analysis of citral in essential oils and water based citral formulations with a very good resolution of its components geranial and neral. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Synthesis of radiolabelled organic compounds for use as water tracers in oil reservoirs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eriksen, D.Oe.; Bjoernstad, V.

    1999-01-01

    Injection of water into oil containing strata to maintain field pressure and to replace oil is usually the primary choice to enhance oil-recovery. Use of tracer methods is becoming an important part of the oil companies' basis for making economical decisions. Such water tracing requires passive tracers, i.e. compounds that behave exactly like the substance studied under the conditions of interest. This implies that a water-tracer in a water-flooded oil-field must fulfil requirements like no absorption to reservoir rock, no partitioning (or distribution) with respect to the other fluids present, long time thermal stability, microbial resistance and high detectability. In addition, the tracer compound has to be environmentally acceptable and available at a reasonable cost. Among the extensive number of compounds tested according to these criteria in the laboratory we have qualified four compounds as tracers for water in oil reservoirs. For three of them we propose radiolabelling syntheses with 14 C as radioactive label to lower detection limits. The compounds are benzene 1,2- and 1,3-dicarboxylic acids and benzene 1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid. (author)

  18. Study of the fluid dynamic and the efficiency of displacement in oil-water systems; Estudo da fluidodinamica e da eficiencia de deslocamento em sistemas agua-oleo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fiorese, Eliana K.; Quadri, Marintho B.; Machado, Ricardo A.F.; Nogueira, Andre L.; Lopes, Toni J. [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, SC (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Quimica e de Alimentos; Baptista, Renan M. [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas (CENPES)

    2004-07-01

    Several operations and procedures in the oil industry are related to immiscible displacement of a fluid by another one. Some examples can be listed: the natural and artificial oil elevation from wells, the pumping of high viscosity oils through pipelines using water injection and secondary oil recovery. The performance of the last one is a direct consequence of the interfacial phenomena inherent to oil/water systems. As occur in oil leakages from submarine pipelines, the phase inversion phenomenon can also be considered in this context. Therefore, it is of major importance to realize experimental analysis of the oil/water interface stability and the facts that leads to the fingering phenomenon appearance. This phenomenon is represented into the other one like one or more fingers. The mathematical model used to describe the immiscible displacement of another one is initially developed to Hele-Shaw cells. Experimental observations with a Hele-Shaw cell enable the evaluation of the proposed model and its capability to adequately describe the viscous fingering phenomenon related to physical (density, viscosity and interfacial tension) and geometric properties of the system. (author)

  19. Quantification of the recovered oil and water fractions during water flooding laboratory experiments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Katika, Konstantina; Halim, Amalia Yunita; Shapiro, Alexander

    2015-01-01

    the volume might be less than a few microliters. In this study, we approach the determination of the oil volumes in flooding effluents using predetermined amounts of the North Sea oil with synthetic seawater. The UV/visible spectroscopy method and low-field NMR spectrometry are compared...... for this determination, and an account of advantages and disadvantages of each method is given. Both methods are reproducible with high accuracy. The NMR method was capable of direct quantification of both oil and water fractions, while the UV/visible spectroscopy quantifies only the oil fraction using a standard curve....

  20. Natural sunlight shapes crude oil-degradingbacterial communities in northern Gulf of Mexico surface waters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hernando P Bacosa

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH spill in 2010, an enormous amount of oil was observed in the deep and surface waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Surface waters are characterized by intense sunlight and high temperature during summer. While the oil-degrading bacterial communities in the deep-sea plume have been widely investigated, the effect of natural sunlight on those in oil polluted surface waters remains unexplored to date. In this study, we incubated surface water from the DWH site with amendments of crude oil, Corexit dispersant, or both for 36 d under natural sunlight in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The bacterial community was analyzed over time for total abundance, density of alkane and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degraders, and community composition via pyrosequencing. Our results showed that, for treatments with oil and/or Corexit, sunlight significantly reduced bacterial diversity and evenness and was a key driver of shifts in bacterial community structure. In samples containing oil or dispersant, sunlight greatly reduced abundance of the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus but increased the relative abundances of Alteromonas, Marinobacter, Labrenzia, Sandarakinotalea, Bartonella, and Halomonas. Dark samples with oil were represented by members of Thalassobius, Winogradskyella, Alcanivorax, Formosa, Pseudomonas, Eubacterium, Erythrobacter, Natronocella, and Coxiella. Both oil and Corexit inhibited the Candidatus Pelagibacter with or without sunlight exposure. For the first time, we demonstrated the effects of light in structuring microbial communities in water with oil and/or Corexit. Overall, our findings improve understanding of oil pollution in surface water, and provide unequivocal evidence that sunlight is a key factor in determining bacterial community composition and dynamics in oil polluted marine waters.

  1. Heavy-oil recovery in naturally fractured reservoirs with varying wettability by steam solvent co-injection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al Bahlani, A. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Babadagli, T. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Canadian Section, Calgary, AB (Canada)]|[Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2008-10-15

    Steam injection may not be an efficient oil recovery process in certain circumstances, such as in deep reservoirs, where steam injection may be ineffective because of hot-water flooding due to excessive heat loss. Steam injection may also be ineffective in oil-wet fractured carbonates, where steam channels through fracture zones without effectively sweeping the matrix oil. Steam flooding is one of the many solutions for heavy oil recovery in unconsolidated sandstones that is in commercial production. However, heavy-oil fractured carbonates are more challenging, where the recovery is generally limited only to matrix oil drainage gravity due to unfavorable wettability or thermal expansion if heat is introduced during the process. This paper proposed a new approach to improve steam/hot-water injection and efficiency for heavy-oil fractured carbonate reservoirs. The paper provided background information on oil recovery from fractured carbonates and provided a statement of the problem. Three phases were described, including steam/hot-waterflooding phase (spontaneous imbibition); miscible flooding phase (diffusion); and steam/hot-waterflooding phase (spontaneous imbibition or solvent retention). The paper also discussed core preparation and saturation procedures. It was concluded that efficient oil recovery is possible using alternate injection of steam/hot water and solvent. 43 refs., 1 tab., 13 figs.

  2. Ceramic pore channels with inducted carbon nanotubes for removing oil from water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xinwei; Hong, Liang; Xu, Yanfang; Ong, Zheng Wei

    2012-04-01

    Water contaminated with tiny oil emulsions is costly and difficult to treat because of the colloidal stability and deformable nature of emulsified oil. This work utilizes carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in macro/mesopore channels of ceramic membrane to remove tiny oil droplets from water. The CNTs were implanted into the porous ceramic channels by means of chemical vapor deposition. Being hydrophobic in nature and possessing an interfacial curvature at nanoscale, CNTs enabled tiny oil emulsion in submicrometer and nano scales to be entrapped while permeating through the CNTs implanted pore channels. Optimizing the growth condition of the CNTs resulted in a uniform distribution of CNT grids, which allowed the development of lipophilic layers during filtration. These lipo-layers drastically enhanced the separation performance. The filtration capability of CNT-ceramic membrane was assessed by the purification of a dilute oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion containing ca. 210 ppm mineral oil 1600 ppm emulsifier, and a trace amount of dye, a proxy polluted water source. The best CNT-tailored ceramic membrane, prepared under the optimized CNT growth condition, claimed 100% oil rejection rate and a permeation flux of 0.6 L m(-2) min(-1), driven by a pressure drop of ca. 1 bar for 3 days on the basis of UV measurement. The CNT-sustained adsorption complements the size-exclusion mechanism in removing soluble oil.

  3. Two-step preparation of nano-scaled magnetic chitosan particles using Triton X-100 reversed-phase water-in-oil microemulsion system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhou, Zhengkun; Jiang, Feihong [College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A and F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100 (China); Lee, Tung-Ching, E-mail: lee@aesop.rutgers.edu [Department of Food Science, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, 65 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (United States); Yue, Tianli, E-mail: yuetl305@nwsuaf.edu.cn [College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A and F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100 (China)

    2013-12-25

    Highlights: •A new two-step route for nano-scaled magnetic chitosan particles preparation. •Triton X-100 reversed-phase microemulsion system was used for chitosan coating. •Narrow size distribution of magnetic chitosan nanoparticles was achieved. •Quantitative evaluation of recoverability for the magnetic chitosan nanoparticles. -- Abstract: A new two-step route for the preparation of nano-scaled magnetic chitosan particles has been developed, different from reported one-step in situ preparation and two-step preparation method of reversed-phase suspension, Triton X-100 reversed-phase water-in-oil microemulsion encapsulation method was employed in coating the pre-prepared Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticles with chitosan. The resultant magnetic chitosan particles owned a narrow size distribution ranging from 50 to 92 nm. X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) indicated that the chitosan coating procedure did not change the spinal structure of Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} magnetic nanoparticles. The results of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated that the chitosan was coated on Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticles and its average mass content was ∼50%. The saturated magnetization of the magnetic Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/chitosan nanoparticles reached 18.62 emu/g, meanwhile, the nanoparticles showed the characteristics of superparamagnetism. The magnetic chitosan nanoparticles showed a high recoverability of 99.99% in 10 min when pH exceeded 4. The results suggested that the as-prepared magnetic chitosan particles were nano-scaled with a narrow size distribution and a high recoverability.

  4. Highly permeable double-skinned forward osmosis membranes for anti-fouling in the emulsified oil-water separation process

    KAUST Repository

    Duong, Hoang Hanh Phuoc; Chung, Neal Tai-Shung; Wei, Shawn; Irish, Lana

    2014-01-01

    Forward osmosis (FO) has attracted wide attention in recent years. However, the FO performance may be restricted due to internal concentration polarization (ICP) and fast fouling propensity that occurs in the membrane sublayer. Particularly, these problems significantly affect the membrane performance when treating highly contaminated oily wastewater. Recently, double-skinned flat sheet cellulose acetate (CA) membranes consisting of two selective skins via the phase inversion method have demonstrated less ICP and fouling propensity over typical single-skinned membranes. However, these membranes exhibit low water fluxes of <12 LMH under 2 M NaCl draw solution. Therefore, a novel double-skinned FO membrane with a high water flux has been aimed for in this study for emulsified oil-water treatment. The double-skinned FO membrane comprises a fully porous sublayer sandwiched between (i) a truly dense skin for salt rejection and (ii) a fairly loose dense skin for emulsified oil particle rejection. The former dense skin is a polyamide synthesized via interfacial polymerization, while the latter one is a self-assembled sulfonated pentablock copolymer (Nexar copolymer) layer. The resultant double-skinned membrane exhibits a high water flux of 17.2 LMH and a low reverse salt transport of 4.85 gMH using 0.5 M NaCl as the draw solution and DI water as the feed. The double-skinned membrane outperforms the single-skinned membrane with much lower fouling propensity for emulsified oil-water separation. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

  5. Highly permeable double-skinned forward osmosis membranes for anti-fouling in the emulsified oil-water separation process

    KAUST Repository

    Duong, Hoang Hanh Phuoc

    2014-04-15

    Forward osmosis (FO) has attracted wide attention in recent years. However, the FO performance may be restricted due to internal concentration polarization (ICP) and fast fouling propensity that occurs in the membrane sublayer. Particularly, these problems significantly affect the membrane performance when treating highly contaminated oily wastewater. Recently, double-skinned flat sheet cellulose acetate (CA) membranes consisting of two selective skins via the phase inversion method have demonstrated less ICP and fouling propensity over typical single-skinned membranes. However, these membranes exhibit low water fluxes of <12 LMH under 2 M NaCl draw solution. Therefore, a novel double-skinned FO membrane with a high water flux has been aimed for in this study for emulsified oil-water treatment. The double-skinned FO membrane comprises a fully porous sublayer sandwiched between (i) a truly dense skin for salt rejection and (ii) a fairly loose dense skin for emulsified oil particle rejection. The former dense skin is a polyamide synthesized via interfacial polymerization, while the latter one is a self-assembled sulfonated pentablock copolymer (Nexar copolymer) layer. The resultant double-skinned membrane exhibits a high water flux of 17.2 LMH and a low reverse salt transport of 4.85 gMH using 0.5 M NaCl as the draw solution and DI water as the feed. The double-skinned membrane outperforms the single-skinned membrane with much lower fouling propensity for emulsified oil-water separation. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

  6. Volatile-organic molecular characterization of shale-oil produced water from the Permian Basin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Naima A; Engle, Mark; Dungan, Barry; Holguin, F Omar; Xu, Pei; Carroll, Kenneth C

    2016-04-01

    Growth in unconventional oil and gas has spurred concerns on environmental impact and interest in beneficial uses of produced water (PW), especially in arid regions such as the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. tight-oil producer. To evaluate environmental impact, treatment, and reuse potential, there is a need to characterize the compositional variability of PW. Although hydraulic fracturing has caused a significant increase in shale-oil production, there are no high-resolution organic composition data for the shale-oil PW from the Permian Basin or other shale-oil plays (Eagle Ford, Bakken, etc.). PW was collected from shale-oil wells in the Midland sub-basin of the Permian Basin. Molecular characterization was conducted using high-resolution solid phase micro extraction gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Approximately 1400 compounds were identified, and 327 compounds had a >70% library match. PW contained alkane, cyclohexane, cyclopentane, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene), alkyl benzenes, propyl-benzene, and naphthalene. PW also contained heteroatomic compounds containing nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. 3D van Krevelen and double bond equivalence versus carbon number analyses were used to evaluate molecular variability. Source composition, as well as solubility, controlled the distribution of volatile compounds found in shale-oil PW. The salinity also increased with depth, ranging from 105 to 162 g/L total dissolved solids. These data fill a gap for shale-oil PW composition, the associated petroleomics plots provide a fingerprinting framework, and the results for the Permian shale-oil PW suggest that partial treatment of suspended solids and organics would support some beneficial uses such as onsite reuse and bio-energy production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Volatile-organic molecular characterization of shale-oil produced water from the Permian Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Naima A.; Engle, Mark A.; Dungan, Barry; Holguin, F. Omar; Xu, Pei; Carroll, Kenneth C.

    2016-01-01

    Growth in unconventional oil and gas has spurred concerns on environmental impact and interest in beneficial uses of produced water (PW), especially in arid regions such as the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. tight-oil producer. To evaluate environmental impact, treatment, and reuse potential, there is a need to characterize the compositional variability of PW. Although hydraulic fracturing has caused a significant increase in shale-oil production, there are no high-resolution organic composition data for the shale-oil PW from the Permian Basin or other shale-oil plays (Eagle Ford, Bakken, etc.). PW was collected from shale-oil wells in the Midland sub-basin of the Permian Basin. Molecular characterization was conducted using high-resolution solid phase micro extraction gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Approximately 1400 compounds were identified, and 327 compounds had a >70% library match. PW contained alkane, cyclohexane, cyclopentane, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene), alkyl benzenes, propyl-benzene, and naphthalene. PW also contained heteroatomic compounds containing nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur. 3D van Krevelen and double bond equivalence versus carbon number analyses were used to evaluate molecular variability. Source composition, as well as solubility, controlled the distribution of volatile compounds found in shale-oil PW. The salinity also increased with depth, ranging from 105 to 162 g/L total dissolved solids. These data fill a gap for shale-oil PW composition, the associated petroleomics plots provide a fingerprinting framework, and the results for the Permian shale-oil PW suggest that partial treatment of suspended solids and organics would support some beneficial uses such as onsite reuse and bio-energy production.

  8. An experiment of used palm oil refinery using the value engineering method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sumiati; Waluyo, M.

    2018-01-01

    Palm Oil is one of prime materials which very necessary for Indonesia. In the development of palm oil industry the constraint which faced is raw material availability and the economic crisis that attack Indonesia which cause increasing of cost industry so that the salaes price become very expensive . With using alternative raw material namely used palm oil them be made palm oil design to solve this problems. In the designing which comply the consideration of good pal oil planning aspect be use value engineer study. While the criteria parameter of hygienic palm oil which obtained from the questioner area free fatty acid, water content, Iodine number, peroxide number, odor, taste and the color. The research which use value engineer study is throught any phase that is information phase, analyzes phase, creative phase, development phase and presentation phase. This research began with doing the identification of palm oil demand, continued by methodology development in order to measure oil design. By using creative process could be obtained flow rate position, the amount of adsorbent and the best settling time for palm oil alternative that is in the flow rate 70 ml/sec, 4% of adsorbent and the 70 minute for the settling time with free fatty acid value: 0.299. While the best palm oil alternative are palm oil with free fatty acid value = 0.299, water content = 0.31, Iodine number = 40.08, Peroxide number = 3.72, odor and taste = Normal, the color = Normal. The Evalution which done by value engineer study generate the value from alternative palm oil is 1.330 and market palm oil 1.392. Thus, can be conclude thet the value engineer study can be good implemented in the alternative palm oil planning so that alternative palm oil can be produced largely because they have better value that market palm oil and appropriate for little industries.

  9. Essentials of water systems design in the oil, gas, and chemical processing industries

    CERN Document Server

    Bahadori, Alireza; Boyd, Bill

    2013-01-01

    Essentials of Water Systems Design in the Oil, Gas and Chemical Processing Industries provides valuable insight for decision makers by outlining key technical considerations and requirements of four critical systems in industrial processing plants—water treatment systems, raw water and plant water systems, cooling water distribution and return systems, and fire water distribution and storage facilities. The authors identify the key technical issues and minimum requirements related to the process design and selection of various water supply systems used in the oil, gas, and chemical processing industries. This book is an ideal, multidisciplinary work for mechanical engineers, environmental scientists, and oil and gas process engineers.

  10. Spreading of oil from protein stabilised emulsions at air/water interfaces

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schokker, E.P.; Bos, M.A.; Kuijpers, A.J.; Wijnen, M.E.; Walstra, P.

    2002-01-01

    Spreading of a drop of an emulsion made with milk proteins on air/water interfaces was studied. From an unheated emulsion, all oil molecules could spread onto the air/water interface, indicating that the protein layers around the oil globules in the emulsion droplet were not coherent enough to

  11. Ultrasonic splitting of oil-in-water emulsions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hald, Jens; König, Ralf; Benes, Ewald

    1999-01-01

    Standing resonant ultrasonic wave fields can be utilized for liquid–liquid separation of the dispersed particles and the fluid caused by the acoustic radiation pressure and the induced particle agglomeration or coagulation/coalescence process. For the splitting of oil-in-water emulsions, the avai......Standing resonant ultrasonic wave fields can be utilized for liquid–liquid separation of the dispersed particles and the fluid caused by the acoustic radiation pressure and the induced particle agglomeration or coagulation/coalescence process. For the splitting of oil-in-water emulsions......, the available piezoelectric composite transducer technology was improved and a dedicated resonator with crossed plane wave sonication geometry has been developed. The resonator chamber is entirely made of aluminium or tempax glass and the PZT piezoceramic transducer delivers an acoustic energy flow density...... of up to 24 W/cm2 into the sonication volume. The chosen resonance frequency is kept stable by automatic frequency control utilizing the maximum true power criterion. Physically and chemically well-defined low and high density pure laboratory and also industrially used cooling-lubricating oil...

  12. Radiation-thermal purification of waste water from oil pollution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mustafaev, I.; Guliyeva, N.; Rzayev, R.; Yagubov, K.

    2004-01-01

    Full text: During the extraction, preparation, transportation and refining of oil the sewages containing oil contaminations are produced. The concentration of oil content in the water depends on used technology and may vary from a thousandths parts up to tens percents. There is a necessity of cleaning this pollution up to a permissible level. There are numerous methods (adsorption, mechanical, chemical and etc) of treating of waster water from oil contaminations. Radiation-chemical method is one of the effective among the above mentioned methods. The results of radiation-thermal decomposition of n-heptane micro-admixtures in water medium are adduced. The main parameters of radiolysis change within the intervals: temperature 20-400 o C, absorbed dose - 0†10.8 kGy at dose rate 3.6 kGy/h. The correlation of n-heptane concentration and water steam changed within [C 5 H 1 2]/[H 2 O] (1-100) 10-5. Total concentration of steam was about 10 20 molec/ml. As a product of decomposition are observed H 2 , CO, CH 4 , C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 6 , C 3 H 8 , C 3 H 6 , C 4 H 8 , hydrocarbons C 5 , and C 6 . The changes of n-heptane concentration in the reactor also were established. The chain regime of n-heptane decomposition at high temperatures in the irradiated mixture is observed. The critical value of temperature and mixture ratio of components, under which the break of chain process of normal n-heptane occurs are defined. The mechanisms of proceeding radiation thermal processes in hydrocarbons-water system are discussed. At the temperatures higher than 300 o C the radiation-thermal decompositions of hydrocarbon micro-impurities in water into gas products occurs according a chain mechanism and the radiation-chemical yield of the decomposition exceeds 100 molec/100eV. This method can be used for purification of sewages from oil contaminations

  13. Oil-in-water nanocontainers as low environmental impact cleaning tools for works of art: two case studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carretti, Emiliano; Giorgi, Rodorico; Berti, Debora; Baglioni, Piero

    2007-05-22

    A novel class of p-xylene-in-water microemulsions mainly based on nonionic surfactants and their application as low impact cleaning tool in cultural heritage conservation is presented. Alkyl polyglycosides (APG) and Triton X-100 surfactants allow obtaining very effective low impact oil-in-water (o/w) microemulsions as alternatives to pure organic solvents for the removal of polymers (particularly Paraloid B72 and Primal AC33) applied during previous conservation treatments. The ternary APG/p-xylene/water microemulsions have been characterized by quasi elastic light scattering to obtain the hydrodynamic radius and the polydispersity of the microemulsion droplets. Laplace inversion of the correlation function CONTIN analysis provided evidence of acrylic copolymers solubilization into the oil nanodroplets. Contact angle, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) data confirmed that microemulsions were effective in removing polymer coatings. The phase diagram of APG microemulsions showed that a reduction >90% (compared to the conventional cleaning methods) of the organic solvent can be achieved by using o/w microemulsions. The microemulsions were successfully tested in two real cases: (1) the APG based microemulsion was used in a Renaissance painting by Vecchietta in Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, Italy, degraded by the presence of a polyacrylate coating applied during a previous restoration and (2) a Triton X-100 oil-in-water microemulsion containing (NH4)2CO3 in the water continuous phase. The association of ammoniun carbonate to the microemusion led to the swelling of an organic deposit (mainly asphaltenes deposited on the fresco in the Oratorio di San Nicola al Ceppo in Florence, still contamined by the water of the Arno river during the 1966 flood) and a very efficient removal of highly insoluble inorganic deposits (mainly gypsum) strongly associated to asphaltenes. These innovative systems are

  14. A Computational Study of Internal Flows in a Heated Water-Oil Emulsion Droplet

    KAUST Repository

    Sim, Jaeheon

    2015-01-05

    The vaporization characteristics of water-oil emulsion droplets are investigated by high fidelity computational simulations. One of the key objectives is to identify the physical mechanism for the experimentally observed behavior that the component in the dispersed micro-droplets always vaporizes first, for both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsion droplets. The mechanism of this phenomenon has not been clearly understood. In this study, an Eulerian-Lagrangian method was implemented with a temperature-dependent surface tension model and a dynamic adaptive mesh refinement in order to effectively capture the thermo-capillary effect of a micro-droplet in an emulsion droplet efficiently. It is found that the temperature difference in an emulsion droplet creates a surface tension gradient along the micro-droplet surface, inducing surface movement. Subsequently, the outer shear flow and internal flow circulation inside the droplet, referred to as the Marangoni convection, are created. The present study confirms that the Marangoni effect can be sufficiently large to drive the micro-droplets to the emulsion droplet surface at higher temperature, for both water-in-oil and oil-and-water emulsion droplets. A further parametric study with different micro-droplet sizes and temperature gradients demonstrates that larger micro-droplets move faster with larger temperature gradient. The oil micro-droplet in oil-in-water emulsion droplets moves faster due to large temperature gradients by smaller thermal conductivity.

  15. Water Pollution and Treatments Part II: Utilization of Agricultural Wastes to Remove Petroleum Oils From Refineries Pollutants Present in Waste Water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, N.A.; El-Emary, M.M.

    2011-01-01

    Several natural agricultural wastes, of lignocellulose nature, such as Nile flower plant (ward El-Nil), milled green leaves, sugar cane wastes, palm tree leaves (carina), milled cotton stems, milled linseed stems, fine sawdust, coarse sawdust and palm tree cover were dried and then crushed to suitable size to be evaluated and utilized as adsorbents to remove oils floating or suspended in the waste water effluents from refineries and petroleum installations. The parameters investigated include effect of adsorbent type (adsorptive efficiency), adsorbate (type and concentration), mixing time, salinity of the water, adsorbent ratio to treated water, temperature, ph and stirring. Two different Egyptian crude oils varying in their properties and several refined products such as gasoline, kerosene, gas oil, diesel oil, fuel oil and lubricating oil were employed in this work in addition to the skimmed oil from the skim basin separator. Most of the agricultural wastes proved to be very effective in adsorbing oils from waste water effluents.

  16. Water coning. An empirical formula for the critical oil-production rate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schols, R S

    1972-01-01

    The production of oil through a well that partly penetrates an oil layer underlain by water causes the oil/water interface to deform into a bell shape, usually referred to as water coning. To prevent water- breakthrough as a result of water coning, a knowledge of critical rates is necessary. Experiments are described in which critical rates were measured as a function of the relevant parameters. The experiments were conducted in Hele Shaw models, suitable for radial flow. From the experimental data, an empirical formula for critical rates was derived in dimensionless form. Approximate theoretical solutions for the critical rate appear in literature. A comparison of critical rates calculated according to these solutions with those from the empirical formula shows that these literature data give either too high or too low values for the critical rates.

  17. Low cost and conformal microwave water-cut sensor for optimizing oil production process

    KAUST Repository

    Karimi, Muhammad Akram

    2015-01-01

    Efficient oil production and refining processes require the precise measurement of water content in oil (i.e., water-cut) which is extracted out of a production well as a byproduct. Traditional water-cut (WC) laboratory measurements are precise

  18. Treatment by absorbers of oil contaminated process waters. Ion exchange resins and filtration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    La Gamma, Ana M.; Becquart, Elena T.; Chocron, Mauricio; Ambrosioni, P.M.; Schoenbrod, B.

    2003-01-01

    Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors have a system devoted to the purification and upgrading of the collected heavy water leaks. The purification train is fed with different degradation ratios (D 2 O/H 2 O) activities and impurities. The water is distilled in a packed bed column filled with a mesh type packing. With the purpose of minimizing the column stack corrosion, the water is pretreated in a train consisting on an activated charcoal bed-strong cationic-anionic resin and a final polishing mixed bed resin. Traces of oils are retained by the charcoal bed but some compounds extracted by the aqueous phase are suspected to be responsible for the resins fouling or precursors of potentially aggressive agents inside the distillation column. In the present work, the identification, evaluation of alternatives for the retention like dead end and cross flow micro filtration, adsorption and ion exchange were tested and the results compared to the original products present in the water upgrading purification train. (author)

  19. WATER PINCH TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION TO MINIMIZE SULPHUROUS WASTEWATER IN AN OIL REFINERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriel Orlando Lobelles Sardiñas

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In oil refining industries there is a high water consumption, which influences the high production costs and impacts the environment due to the discharge of their wastes. It is known that there are no technological conditions for the reuse of industrial water at the oil refineries, based on hydroskimming processes. The objective of this study is to implement the process integration methodology, Water Pinch, to a sour water stripper unit, as a unitary process of an oil refinery, to minimize the amount of sulphurous waste water and reduce contamination of the bay that receives these wastes. The technology is applied to evaluate the volume of sulphurous wastewater generated in the Cienfuegos oil refinery. This technology allows identifying opportunities for recovery and reuse of water, based on concentration ranges of contaminants. To achieve this purpose, a sour water stripper tower was assessed with the help of Water Pinch software, which provided an optimized distribution network, as a proposed technological improvement. This facilitated to recover and reuse 667 757, 28 m3 of water per year, and 1 035 023, 78 CUC were saved, at the same time the amount of polluting effluents decreased in approximately 2 % of non-reusable treated water.

  20. Smart candle soot coated membranes for on-demand immiscible oil/water mixture and emulsion switchable separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jian; Zhao, Zhihong; Li, Dianming; Tian, Haifeng; Zha, Fei; Feng, Hua; Guo, Lin

    2017-09-21

    Oil/water separation is of great importance for the treatment of oily wastewater, including immiscible light/heavy oil-water mixtures, oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsions. Smart surfaces with responsive wettability have received extensive attention especially for controllable oil/water separation. However, traditional smart membranes with a switchable wettability between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity are limited to certain responsive materials and continuous external stimuli, such as pH, electrical field or light irradiation. Herein, a candle soot coated mesh (CSM) with a larger pore size and a candle soot coated PVDF membrane (CSP) with a smaller pore size with underwater superoleophobicity and underoil superhydrophobicity were successfully fabricated, which can be used for on-demand immiscible oil/water mixtures and surfactants-stabilized oil/water emulsion separation, respectively. Without any continuous external stimulus, the wettability of our membranes could be reversibly switched between underwater superoleophobicity and underoil superhydrophobicity simply by drying and washing alternately, thus achieving effective and switchable oil/water separation with excellent separation efficiency. We believe that such smart materials will be promising candidates for use in the removal of oil pollutants in the future.

  1. Separation of oils from solids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Slyke, D.C.

    1992-01-01

    This patent describes a method for cleaning oil-contaminated particulate solids. It comprises: contacting contaminated solids with a non-aqueous liquid composition comprising a carboxylic acid; then contacting the solids with an aqueous wash containing a reagent for converting the carboxylic acid to a water-soluble carboxylate salt; and removing an aqueous phase containing carboxylate salt and entrained oil

  2. Histograms showing variations in oil yield, water yield, and specific gravity of oil from Fischer assay analyses of oil-shale drill cores and cuttings from the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietrich, John D.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Johnson, Ronald C.; Mercier, Tracey J.

    2014-01-01

    Recent studies indicate that the Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado contains over 1.5 trillion barrels of oil in place, making the basin the largest known oil-shale deposit in the world. Previously published histograms display oil-yield variations with depth and widely correlate rich and lean oil-shale beds and zones throughout the basin. Histograms in this report display oil-yield data plotted alongside either water-yield or oil specific-gravity data. Fischer assay analyses of core and cutting samples collected from exploration drill holes penetrating the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin can aid in determining the origins of those deposits, as well as estimating the amount of organic matter, halite, nahcolite, and water-bearing minerals. This report focuses only on the oil yield plotted against water yield and oil specific gravity.

  3. Selective separation of oil and water with special wettability mesh membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Liu, Defei

    2017-02-24

    Due to the different interfacial effects of oil and water, utilizing the special wettability of solid surfaces to design an oil and water separation process has been demonstrated to be an effective approach for oil/water separation. In this report, a simple process has been developed to fabricate special surface wettability mesh membranes. The carbon nanoparticles with diameters of 10 nm were first coated onto the surface of steel wires based on a candle soot coating process. These templates of carbon nanoparticles were then coated with a more stable layer of silica (SiO2) particles via a facile chemical vapor deposition route. After being modified by two separate methods, a superhydrophobic/superoleophilic membrane was obtained by the use of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (PFOTS) and a oleophobic/superhydrophilic membrane was obtained by using poly(diallyldimethylammonium-perfluorooctanoate) (PDDA–PFO). Separation experiments show that these superhydrophobic/superoleophilic or oleophobic/superhydrophilic mesh membranes can be used to selectively separate oil/water with a high flux of more than 930 L m−2 h−1 and a collecting efficiency of over 97%. Furthermore, the repetitions of the separation experiments demonstrate that these superhydrophobic/superoleophilic or oleophobic/superhydrophilic mesh membranes are durable, stable and reusable, making them encouraging candidates for practical oil-polluted water treatment.

  4. Reception and treatment facilities for waste oils and oil-polluted waters from marine and industrial activities in Gothenburg, Sweden

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersson, K.; Lexen, S.I.; Hell, M.

    1992-01-01

    At the beginning of the 1980s, comprehensive solutions were found to problems associated with the handling of oil-polluted water from marine and industrial sources in the Gothenburg area. The treatment plant in the oil harbour has permission to treat 700,000 m 3 /yr of sludge, ballast, slops and other oil-contaminated waters. Following treatment by chemical flocculation, flotation and dual-media filtration, the treated water must not contain more than 5 ppm of oil. Work to improve treatment results has been carried out from the start, in close co-operation with environmental authorities and with the waste generators themselves. Through increased consciousness, improvements in control, and greater source separation, it will be possible to bring about a significantly lower concentration of pollutants in the incoming waste streams. Recent plans include separate treatment of waste streams containing aromatic compounds and heavily polluted waters. Complementary treatment methods, such as activated carbon and air stripping, are under evaluation. (author). 10 figs

  5. Oil sands tailings management project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Godwalt, C. [Alberta WaterSMART, Calgary, AB (Canada); Kotecha, P. [Suncor Energy Inc, Calgary, AB (Canada); Aumann, C. [Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures, Alberta Governement, AB (Canada)

    2010-11-15

    The Oil sands leadership initiative (OSLI) works with the Government of Alberta on the development of the oil sands industry, considering environmental, economical and social aspects. Water management was identified as one of most important areas to focus on. Alberta WaterSMART was requested to support the development and the management of projects resulting from the work done or underway in this field. The development of a regional water management solution stood out as the most interesting solution to obtain significant results. In the Athabasca Region, oil sands producers work independently on their water sourcing and disposal with particular attention to fresh water conservation and economics. The Athabasca River represents a source for mines and distant saline aquifers are the target of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operators. As part of a four-phase project aiming to study the environmental and economic footprint (EEF) benefit of alternatives for Athabasca oil sands production water supply and disposal, the purpose of the tailings water management project was to identify tailings treatment technologies that are ready to be implemented, and to design and evaluate solutions in order to improve regional oil sands production water sourcing and disposal. Alternatives were evaluated based on their total EEF, applying a lifecycle assessment methodology with a particular attention on the quantification of important performance indicators. 25 refs., 8 tabs., 40 figs.

  6. Oil sands tailings management project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Godwalt, C.; Kotecha, P.; Aumann, C.

    2010-11-01

    The Oil sands leadership initiative (OSLI) works with the Government of Alberta on the development of the oil sands industry, considering environmental, economical and social aspects. Water management was identified as one of most important areas to focus on. Alberta WaterSMART was requested to support the development and the management of projects resulting from the work done or underway in this field. The development of a regional water management solution stood out as the most interesting solution to obtain significant results. In the Athabasca Region, oil sands producers work independently on their water sourcing and disposal with particular attention to fresh water conservation and economics. The Athabasca River represents a source for mines and distant saline aquifers are the target of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operators. As part of a four-phase project aiming to study the environmental and economic footprint (EEF) benefit of alternatives for Athabasca oil sands production water supply and disposal, the purpose of the tailings water management project was to identify tailings treatment technologies that are ready to be implemented, and to design and evaluate solutions in order to improve regional oil sands production water sourcing and disposal. Alternatives were evaluated based on their total EEF, applying a lifecycle assessment methodology with a particular attention on the quantification of important performance indicators. 25 refs., 8 tabs., 40 figs.

  7. Preliminary Study of Water Repellent Properties of Red Pepper Seed Oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurniawan, F.; Madurani, K. A.; Wahyulis, N. C.

    2017-03-01

    The water-repellent properties of red pepper seed oil (capsicol) have been studied. The oil was coated on the glass surface by spray technique. Water repellent properties were performed by measuring the contact angle of water droplets. The measurement was conducted by varying the drying time of the oil coating at room temperature. The optimum contact angle of the droplets on the glass with capsicol coating is 46.77°, which can be achieved in 30 min of drying time. It also obtained the smallest diameter of the droplets (0.47 cm). The longer drying time decrease the contact angles and increases the diameter. The results were compared with the bare glass and commercial water repellent. The contact angle of the droplets on the glass surface with capsicol coating is higher than bare glass, but lower than glass with commercial water repellent coating. It means that capsicol has the water-repellent properties.

  8. The Phase Behavior of γ-Oryzanol and β-Sitosterol in Edible Oil

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sawalha, H.I.M.; Venema, P.; Bot, A.; Flöter, E.; Adel, den R.; Linden, van der E.

    2015-01-01

    The phase behavior of binary mixtures of ¿-oryzanol and ß-sitosterol and ternary mixtures of ¿-oryzanol and ß-sitosterol in sunflower oil was studied. Binary mixtures of ¿-oryzanol and ß-sitosterol show double-eutectic behavior. Complex phase behavior with two intermediate mixed solid phases was

  9. Porous ceramic membrane with superhydrophobic and superoleophilic surface for reclaiming oil from oily water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Changhong; Xu, Youqian; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Yang; Li, Jun

    2012-01-01

    A porous ceramic tube with superhydrophobic and superoleophilic surface was fabricated by sol-gel and then surface modification with polyurethane-polydimethysiloxane, and an oil-water separator based on the porous ceramic tube was erected to characterize superhydrophobic and superoleophilic surface's separation efficiency and velocity when being used to reclaim oil from oily water and complex oily water containing clay particle. The separator is fit for reclaiming oil from oily water.

  10. Treatment of Oil & Gas Produced Water.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dwyer, Brian P. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2016-02-01

    Production of oil and gas reserves in the New Mexico Four Corners Region results in large volumes of "produced water". The common method for handling the produced water from well production is re-injection in regulatory permitted salt water disposal wells. This is expensive (%7E $5/bbl.) and does not recycle water, an ever increasingly valuable commodity. Previously, Sandia National Laboratories and several NM small business tested pressure driven membrane-filtration techniques to remove the high TDS (total dissolved solids) from a Four Corners Coal Bed Methane produced water. Treatment effectiveness was less than optimal due to problems with pre-treatment. Inadequate pre-treatment allowed hydrocarbons, wax and biological growth to foul the membranes. Recently, an innovative pre-treatment scheme using ozone and hydrogen peroxide was pilot tested. Results showed complete removal of hydrocarbons and the majority of organic constituents from a gas well production water. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was made possible through funding from the New Mexico Small Business Administration (NMSBA) Program at Sandia National Laboratories. Special thanks to Juan Martinez and Genaro Montoya for guidance and support from project inception to completion. Also, special thanks to Frank McDonald, the small businesses team POC, for laying the ground work for the entire project; Teresa McCown, the gas well owner and very knowledgeable- fantastic site host; Lea and Tim Phillips for their tremendous knowledge and passion in the oil & gas industry.; and Frank Miller and Steve Addleman for providing a pilot scale version of their proprietary process to facilitate the pilot testing.

  11. Jussara berry (Euterpe edulis M.) oil-in-water emulsions are highly stable: the role of natural antioxidants in the fruit oil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvalho, Aline G A; Silva, Kelly A; Silva, Laís O; Costa, André M M; Akil, Emília; Coelho, Maria A Z; Torres, Alexandre G

    2018-05-23

    Antioxidants help prevent lipid oxidation, and therefore are critical to maintain sensory quality and chemical characteristics of edible oils. Jussara berry (Euterpe edulis M.) oil is a source of minor compounds with potential antioxidant activity. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of such compounds on the effectiveness to prevent or delay oxidation of oil present in oil-in-water emulsions, and how the emulsions physical stability would be affected. Jussara berry oil extracted by ethanol extraction, its stripped variations (partially stripped, highly stripped and highly stripped with added BHT), and expeller pressed oil were used to prepare oil-in-water emulsions. Jussara berry oils were analyzed before emulsions preparation to ensure its initial quality and composition, and oil-in-water emulsions were analyzed regarding their oxidative and physical stability. Ethanol extracted oil emulsion presented higher oxidative stability when compared to highly stripped oil emulsion with added synthetic antioxidant BHT (oxidative stability index 45% lower, after 60 days, and reached undetectable levels after 90 days). All emulsions maintained physically stable for up to 120 days of storage. Our results indicate that natural antioxidants in jussara berry oil protect emulsions from oxidation while keeping physical stability unchanged. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  12. On-site monitoring of Hebei Spirit oil spill by fluorometric detection of oil residues in coastal waters off Taean, Korea

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, M.; Yim, U.H.; Hong, S.H.; Jung, J.H.; Won, J.; An, J.; Choi, H.W.; Shim, W.J. [Korea Ocean Research and Development Inst., Geoje (Korea, Republic of)

    2009-07-01

    This paper discussed activities conducted to monitor a crude oil spill that contaminated over 70 km of the western Korean coastline. Contamination levels and temporal variations of dissolved and dispersed oils in sea and pore water at 40 beaches were monitored using a portable fluorimeter for 10 months after the spill. More than 980 samples from the heavily-impacted Mallipo Beach area were analyzed. The analysis showed that oil concentrations in the sea water were as high as 16,600 {mu}g/L directly after the spill, and decreased to below the Korean marine water quality standard of 10 {mu}g/L at most sites 10 months after the spill. However, the oil content in pore water remained high, with levels of up to 2,320 {mu}g/L for the first few months following the spill. Higher oil contamination levels were observed at some sites for up to 10 months after the spill. Results of the study suggested that oil in pore water persisted in confined areas along the coastline. Results from the fluorescence detection technique were then compared with traditional gas chromatography (GC) techniques of total petroleum hydrocarbon analysis. It was concluded that fluorescence detection was capable of generating accurate results more quickly and cost-effectively than traditional GC techniques. 22 refs., 7 figs.

  13. Pilot trials of the microbial degradation of Christos-Bitas water in oil emulsion (chocolate mousse) and BP llandarcy gas oil using venturi aeration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berwick, P G

    1985-01-01

    Oil residues arising from the Christos-Bitas spillage were found to contain 28% of oil extractable by carbon tetrachloride; the remainder consisted of water and undefined solids. Christos-Bitas mousse was added to 1.18 m(3) liquor inoculated with oil-contaminated marine mud, and aerated with a 1.5-hp vortex pump and venturi nozzle (12.5 mm) in a cylindrical tank. After 70 days, oil degradation reached 7 mg oil/L/h. About 98% of the solvent extractable oil added was degraded over 83 days. Analysis of oil residues harvested at the end of this experiment showed that there was a decreasing trend in percent degradation in the following order: aromatics > saturates > heterocyclics > asphalts. No less than 94% of any fraction analysed was degraded.In the second pilot trial, oil degradation was carried out in a cylindrical jacket tank containing 6.82 m(3) liquor inoculated with oil-contaminated marine mud from Penarth, South Wales, UK, together with pure cultures derived from the same source, and aerated with a 7.5-hp vortex pump and venturi nozzle (18 mm diameter). Mixing of the oil was inhomogeneous for the first 100-110 days. The overall degree of substrate dispersion and total oil balance was determined by sampling at different depths. Degradation by the mixed culture was achieved at the rate of 164 mg oil/L/h. After 224 days, this was equivalent to 9.6 x 10(3)/kg(-1)/yr;(214 kg/wk) for 6.82 m(3) of liquor. The degradation rate continued to rise as the feed rate was increased by means of an automatic, timed pump. A lag phase of five to six months was necessary to allow the mixed population to build up to an exploitable level.

  14. Complex of spectral techniques for remote monitoring of oil spills on water surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patsayeva, S.; Yuzhakov, V.; Barbini, R.; Fantini, R.; Frassanito, C.; Palucci, A.; Varlamov, V.

    1999-01-01

    Spectral properties of oil films on water surfaces were studied under laboratory conditions. A laser fluorosensor was used to measure fluorescence response; fluorescence decay measurements were also performed. Differences in decay time were noted for different mineral oils (ranging from 1 ns to 3.5 ns) and for refined oils (which ranged from 3.5 ns to 8 ns). Film thickness was estimated by calculating the wavelength -dependent absorption of the mineral oil. This new approach is independent of many accidental factors, and does not demand the a priori measured signal from clean water which is required by the more conventional method of suppression of the water Raman integral signal. These experiments confirmed the suitability of fluorescent spectroscopy as a very sensitive tool for oil detection and mapping, however, when applied to quantitative measurement or oil recognition in remote sensing, care must be taken to account for the factors influencing fluorescence response of mineral oil. It was also shown that fluorescence decay time is a useful technique to characterize the type of mineral oil spilled on water surface in that it provides a means to distinguish between the various types, using time-resolved spectra. 12 refs., 1 tab., 4 figs

  15. Influence of the temperature on the (liquid + liquid) phase equilibria of (water + 1-propanl + linalool or geraniol)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wan, Li; Li, Hengde; Huang, Cheng; Feng, Yuqing; Chu, Guoqiang; Zheng, Yuying; Tan, Wei; Qin, Yanlin; Sun, Dalei; Fang, Yanxiong

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Ternary LLEs containing linalool and geraniol are presented. • Distribution ratios of 1-propanol in the mixtures are examined. • Influence of the temperature on the LLE is studied. • The LLE data were correlated using the NRTL and UNIQUAC models. - Abstract: Linalool and geraniol are the primary components of rose oil, palmarosa oil, and citronella oil and many other essential oils, and two important compounds used in the flavour and fragrance, cosmetic or pharmaceutical industries. Phase equilibria (LLE, VLE, solubility, etc.) and related thermodynamic properties of a mixture are essential in the processes design and control of mass transfer process. In this work, experimental (liquid + liquid) equilibria data of the systems (water + 1-propanl + linalool) and (water + 1-propanl + geraniol) are presented. The (liquid + liquid) equilibria of both systems were determined with a tie-line method at T = (283.15, 298.15 and 313.15) K under atmospheric pressure. The well-known Hand, Bachman and Othmer–Tobias equations were used to test the reliability of the experimental values. The influence of the temperature on the (liquid + liquid) phase equilibria of the mixtures, the binodal curves and distribution ratios of 1-propanl are shown and discussed. Moreover, the NRTL and UNIQUAC models were applied to fit the data for both ternary systems. The interaction parameters obtained from both models successfully correlated the equilibrium compositions. Furthermore, the ternary systems could be represented using the binary parameters of the thermodynamic model with a function of temperature.

  16. Presentations of the CONRAD Research Symposium : oil sands water usage workshop

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    This symposium provided a forum to exchange ideas regarding water use by the oil sands industry in Canada. The topics of discussion addressed timely issues such as corrosion control in pipelines, cumulative discharge modelling in the oil sands area, waste management schemes, the effects of potential limits on water withdrawal for thermal recovery operations and plant operations, the feasibility of geological sequestration of salts, and the impact of process-affected water on bitumen recovery. Other topics of discussion included tailings ponds management, deoxygenation of water, nanofiltration for water management, water quality for wetlands, water reuse, and water supply security. The conference featured 25 presentations, of which 17 have been indexed separately for inclusion in this database. tabs., figs

  17. Systematic bias in the measurement of water in oils by tubular oven evaporation and azeotropic distillation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margolis, S A; Mele, T

    2001-10-15

    Water in oil has been measured by tubular oven evaporation and by azeotropic distillation into a coulometric moisture analyzer. The results of these measurements were compared to the results obtained by volumetric titration of water in oil. The volumetric measurements were consistently higher than the measurements made by tubular oven evaporation or azeotropic distillation. A mass balance study was performed by volumetric Karl Fischer titration of the water in the oil that remained in the tubular oven and in the distillation apparatus. This study indicated that measurable amounts of water were not removed after exhaustive evaporation or distillation. The sum of the water removed by distillation from toluene and that remaining in the distillation chamber was equal to the amount of water measured in the oil by the volumetric method. The data are consistent with the existence of an oil-water azeotrope that does not release water upon evaporation at 160 degrees C or upon dissolution in toluene and distillation of the water-toluene azeotrope. These results were obtained for oils varying in viscosity from 8 to 850 m2/s, and the amount of water remaining associated with the oil appears to be dependent upon the composition of the oil and the method of analysis.

  18. Nutrient removal and energy production from aqueous phase of bio-oil generated via hydrothermal liquefaction of algae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shanmugam, Saravanan R; Adhikari, Sushil; Shakya, Rajdeep

    2017-04-01

    Removal of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) as struvite from bio-oil aqueous phase generated via hydrothermal liquefaction of algae was evaluated in this study. Effect of process parameters such as pH, temperature and reaction time on struvite formation was studied. More than 99% of phosphorus and 40-100% ammonium nitrogen were removed under all experimental conditions. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of struvite, and the struvite recovered from bio-oil aqueous phase can be used as a slow-release fertilizer. Biogas production from struvite recovered bio-oil aqueous phase showed 3.5 times higher CH 4 yield (182±39mL/g COD) as compared to non-struvite recovered aqueous phase. The results from this study indicate that both struvite and methane can be produced from bio-oil aqueous phase. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Superhydrophobic silica wool—a facile route to separating oil and hydrophobic solvents from water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crick, Colin R.; Bhachu, Davinder S.; Parkin, Ivan P.

    2014-12-01

    Silica microfiber wool was systematically functionalized in order to provide an extremely water repellent and oleophilic material. This was carried out using a two-step functionalization that was shown to be a highly effective method for generating an intense water repulsion and attraction for oil. A demonstration of the silica wools application is shown through the highly efficient separation of oils and hydrophobic solvents from water. Water is confined to the extremities of the material, while oil is absorbed into the voids within the wool. The effect of surface functionalization is monitored though observing the interaction of the material with both oils and water, in addition to scanning electron microscope images, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The material can be readily utilized in many applications, including the cleaning of oil spills and filtering during industrial processes, as well as further water purification tasks—while not suffering the losses of efficiency observed in current leading polymeric materials.

  20. System to take up oil suspended in water. System zur Aufnahme von Wasser schwimmendem Oel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Skowronek, A; Hahnefeld, J

    1981-03-19

    This sytem for taking up oil suspended in water has the advantage that the material required can be jettisoned by aircraft in areas affected by an oil catastrophy. Two hoses about 100 metres distant from one another pull a plastic cover made of Perlon through the water. The upper edge of the cover widens into hose-like air containers, in order to keep the cover sufficiently above the water. The lower edge is loaded with quartz sand, in order to keep the cover vertical in the water. A connecting piece guides the oil into a connected plastic pontoon. There are two ships engines mounted in the front third of the connecting piece, which pump the oil into the first pontoon, which acts as storage container. Two dewatering valves are situated in it, which will separate the oil from the water. After passing through this pontoon, the oil reaches a second, much larger plastic pontoon, which acts as the collector for pure oil.

  1. Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, consumptive water use and levelized costs of unconventional oil in North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mangmeechai, Aweewan

    Conventional petroleum production in many countries that supply U.S. crude oil as well as domestic production has declined in recent years. Along with instability in the world oil market, this has stimulated the discussion of developing unconventional oil production, e.g., oil sands and oil shale. Expanding the U.S. energy mix to include oil sands and oil shale may be an important component in diversifying and securing the U.S. energy supply. At the same time, life cycle GHG emissions of these energy sources and consumptive water use are a concern. In this study, consumptive water use includes not only fresh water use but entire consumptive use including brackish water and seawater. The goal of this study is to determine the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and consumptive water use of synthetic crude oil (SCO) derived from Canadian oil sands and U.S. oil shale to be compared with U.S. domestic crude oil, U.S. imported crude oil, and coal-to-liquid (CTL). Levelized costs of SCO derived from Canadian oil sands and U.S. oil shale were also estimated. The results of this study suggest that CTL with no carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and current electricity grid mix is the worst while crude oil imported from United Kingdom is the best in GHG emissions. The life cycle GHG emissions of oil shale surface mining, oil shale in-situ process, oil sands surface mining, and oil sands in-situ process are 43% to 62%, 13% to 32%, 5% to 22%, and 11% to 13% higher than those of U.S. domestic crude oil. Oil shale in-situ process has the largest consumptive water use among alternative fuels, evaluated due to consumptive water use in electricity generation. Life cycle consumptive water use of oil sands in-situ process is the lowest. Specifically, fresh water consumption in the production processes is the most concern given its scarcity. However, disaggregated data on fresh water consumption in the total water consumption of each fuel production process is not available

  2. Treatment of oil pollution on water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haywood, K.H.; Haywood, P.C.; Haywood, K.S.

    1991-01-01

    Oil or other polluting material on or near the surface of a body of water is treated by a device comprising a tube having a slot through which fluid within the tube emerges. A cover directs the emerging fluid over the curved outer surface of the tube. The fluid may be water or a mixture of water and a dispersant. The device may be provided with fins. Some or all of the treated water may be collected in a tank and some or all may be returned to the sea. The device may be rendered buoyant by a pair of floats or may be part of a larger sea-going vessel. (Author)

  3. Process water treatment in Canada's oil sands industry : 1 : target pollutants and treatment objectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allen, E.W.

    2008-01-01

    The continuous recycling of tailings pond water in the oil sands industry has contributed to an overall decline in water quality used for bitumen recovery, general water consumption, and remedial activities. This paper reviewed process water quality and toxicity data from 2 long-term oil sands operations. The aim of the study was to determine potential roles for water treatment and provide benchmarks for the selection of candidate water treatment technologies in the oil sands region of Alberta. An overview of the oil sands industry was provided as well as details of bitumen recovery processes. The study examined target pollutants and exceedances identified in environmental and industrial water quality guidelines. The study demonstrated that the salinity of tailings pond water increased at a rate of 75 mg per litre per year between 1980 and 2001. Increases in hardness, chloride, ammonia, and sulphates were also noted. Naphthenic acids released during bitumen extraction activities were determined as the primary cause of tailings pond water toxicity. A summary of recent studies on experimental reclamation ponds and treatment wetlands in the oil sands region was included. 19 refs., 4 tabs., 11 figs

  4. In situ generation of steam and alkaline surfactant for enhanced oil recovery using an exothermic water reactant (EWR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robertson, Eric P

    2011-05-24

    A method for oil recovery whereby an exothermic water reactant (EWR) encapsulated in a water soluble coating is placed in water and pumped into one or more oil wells in contact with an oil bearing formation. After the water carries the EWR to the bottom of the injection well, the water soluble coating dissolves and the EWR reacts with the water to produce heat, an alkali solution, and hydrogen. The heat from the EWR reaction generates steam, which is forced into the oil bearing formation where it condenses and transfers heat to the oil, elevating its temperature and decreasing the viscosity of the oil. The aqueous alkali solution mixes with the oil in the oil bearing formation and forms a surfactant that reduces the interfacial tension between the oil and water. The hydrogen may be used to react with the oil at these elevated temperatures to form lighter molecules, thus upgrading to a certain extent the oil in situ. As a result, the oil can flow more efficiently and easily through the oil bearing formation towards and into one or more production wells.

  5. Exploratory study on pervaporation membranes for removal of water from water-crude oil emulsions: Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1989-01-01

    Study to explore the feasibility of removing water from oil/water (O/W) and water/oil (W/O) emulsions by means of pervaporation. Initial study involved preparation of simulated O/W and W/O emulsions prepared by mixing water and kerosene of various concentrations and stabilized by adding sodium lauryl sulfate. Preliminary experiments were conducted on 12 membranes fabricated from 2 different materials. One membrane of each type of material was chosen for further work based on the results of the preliminary tests. All experiments were carried out under 2 different downstream pressures and various temperatures.

  6. Integration or segregation: how do molecules behave at oil/water interfaces?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, F G; Richmond, G L

    2008-06-01

    It has been over 250 years since Benjamin Franklin, fascinated with the wave-stilling effect of oil on water, performed his famous oil-drop experiments; nevertheless, the behavior of water molecules adjacent to hydrophobic surfaces continues to fascinate today. In the 18th century, the calming of the seas seemed the most pertinent application of such knowledge; today, we understand that oil-on-water phenomena underlie a range of important chemical, physical, and biological processes, including micelle and membrane formation, protein folding, chemical separation, oil extraction, nanoparticle formation, and interfacial polymerization. Beyond classical experiments of the oil-water interface, recent interest has focused on deriving a molecular-level picture of this interface or, more generally, of water molecules positioned next to any hydrophobic surface. This Account summarizes more than a decade's work from our laboratories aimed at understanding the nature of the hydrogen bonding occurring between water and a series of organic liquids in contact. Although the common perception is that water molecules and oil molecules positioned at the interface between the immiscible liquids want nothing to do with one another, we have found that weak interactions between these hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules lead to interesting interfacial behavior, including highly oriented water molecules and layering of the organic medium that extends several molecular layers deep into the bulk organic liquid. For some organic liquids, penetration of oriented water into the organic layer is also apparent, facilitated by molecular interactions established at the molecularly thin region of first contact between the two liquids. The studies involve a combined experimental and computational approach. The primary experimental tool that we have used is vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS), a powerful surface-specific vibrational spectroscopic method for measuring the molecular

  7. Transport de pétroles bruts lourds sous forme d'émulsion huile dans eau Transporting Heavy Crude Oils in Oil in Water Emulsions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Briant J.

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Des études préliminaires concernant le comportement visqueux d'émulsions d'un pétrole lourd très visqueux (Boscan, Venezuela dans de l'eau additionnée d'un tensioactif anionique ont été réalisées. Elles montrent que, pour la gamme des vitesses de cisaillement existant dans le transport par oléoduc, des réductions de viscosité de plusieurs ordres de grandeur par rapport à la viscosité du pétrole peuvent être obtenues avec des fractions volumiques de la phase dispersée de l'ordre de 60 %. This article describes a preliminary research on the viscous behavior of emulsions of a highly viscous heavy crude oil (Boscan, Venezuela in water containing an anionic surfactant. In the range of the shear rates usually encountered in pipelines, it is shown that the viscosity can be reduced by several orders of magnitude as compared with the crude oil viscosity, and th is for volume fractions of the dispersed phase in the range of 60%.

  8. Oil-soluble and water-soluble BTPhens and their europium complexes in octanol/water solutions: interface crossing studied by MD and PMF simulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benay, G; Wipff, G

    2013-01-31

    Bistriazinyl-phenantroline "BTPhen" ligands L display the remarkable feature to complex trivalent lanthanide and actinide ions, with a marked selectivity for the latter. We report on molecular dynamics studies of tetrasubstituted X(4)BTPhens: L(4+) (X = (+)Et(3)NCH(2)-), L(4-) (X = (-)SO(3)Ph-), and L(0) (X = CyMe(4)) and their complexes with Eu(III) in binary octanol/water solutions. Changes in free energies upon interface crossing are also calculated for typical solutes by potential of mean force PMF simulations. The ligands and their complexes partition, as expected, to either the aqueous or the oil phase, depending on the "solubilizing" group X. Furthermore, most of them are found to be surface active. The water-soluble L(4+) and L(4-) ligands and their (L)Eu(NO(3))(3) complexes adsorb at the aqueous side of the interface, more with L(4-) than with L(4+). The oil soluble ligand L(0) is not surface active in its endo-endo form but adsorbs on the oil side of the interface in its most polar endo-exo form, as well as in its protonated L(0)H(+) and complexed (L(0))Eu(NO(3))(3) states. Furthermore, comparing PMFs of the Eu(III) complexes with and without nitric acid shows that acidifying the aqueous phase has different effects, depending on the ligand charge. In particular, acid promotes the Eu(III) extraction by L(0) via the (L(0))(2)Eu(NO(3))(2+) complex, as observed experimentally. Overall, the results point to the importance of interfacial adsorption for the liquid-liquid extraction of trivalent lanthanide and actinide cations by BTPhens and analogues.

  9. Recycling of water of high pressure cleaning of pipes. Phase 1. Quality demands and economical aspects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Weers, A.W.; Zwaard, J.

    1999-01-01

    According to the regulation 6.1 in the current licence Surface Water Pollution Law (WVO, abbreviated in Dutch) of October 10, 1997, ECN carried out the first phase of a study on the title subject with respect to pipes applied in oil and gas exploration. In the present situation water of the so-called pipe-cleaner is transported via a seapipe after precipitation and membrane filtration. Next to the quality demands and economical aspects attention is paid to a number of environmental aspects

  10. Synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles for oil-water interfacial tension reduction in enhanced oil recovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soleimani, Hassan; Baig, Mirza Khurram; Yahya, Noorhana; Khodapanah, Leila; Sabet, Maziyar; Demiral, Birol M. R.; Burda, Marek

    2018-02-01

    Nanoparticles show potential use in applications associated with upstream oil and gas engineering to increase the performance of numerous methods such as wettability alteration, interfacial tension reduction, thermal conductivity and enhanced oil recovery operations. Surface tension optimization is an important parameter in enhanced oil recovery. Current work focuses on the new economical method of surface tension optimization of ZnO nanofluids for oil-water interfacial tension reduction in enhanced oil recovery. In this paper, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystallites were prepared using the chemical route and explored for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Adsorption of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on calcite (111) surface was investigated using the adsorption locator module of Materials Studio software. It was found that ZnO nanoparticles show maximum adsorption energy of - 253 kcal/mol. The adsorption of ZnO on the rock surface changes the wettability which results in capillary force reduction and consequently increasing EOR. The nanofluids have been prepared by varying the concentration of ZnO nanoparticles to find the optimum value for surface tension. The surface tension (ST) was calculated with different concentration of ZnO nanoparticles using the pendant drop method. The results show a maximum value of ST 35.57 mN/m at 0.3 wt% of ZnO NPs. It was found that the nanofluid with highest surface tension (0.3 wt%) resulted in higher recovery efficiency. The highest recovery factor of 11.82% at 0.3 wt% is due to the oil/water interfacial tension reduction and wettability alteration.

  11. Ecologically friendly ways to clean up oil spills in harbor water areas: crude oil and diesel sorption behavior of natural sorbents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paulauskiene, Tatjana

    2018-04-01

    This work aimed to evaluate the sorption capacity of natural sorbents (wool, moss, straw, peat) and their composites during the sorption of crude oil and of diesel overspread on the water surface. The work presents the research results of the maximum sorption capacity of the sorbents/their composites using crude oil/diesel; the sorption capacity of the sorbents/their composites when crude oil/diesel is spilled on the water surface; and the research results of the unrealized part of the crude oil/diesel in the sorbents. The results of the analysis showed that all the sorbents and their composites have their selectivity to crude oil less than 50%. Also the results showed that the distribution of diesel and water in the sorbents and their composites is very different compared with the distribution of crude oil during the sorption analyses. In total, the diesel in the liquid mass absorbed by the straw and the peat amounted to 17 and 20%, respectively. This shows that these sorbents are much more selective for water but not for diesel. A larger part of the diesel was in the liquid amount absorbed by the composites-up to 33%. Accordingly, the use of these composites in watery environments is much more effective than the use of individual sorbents. The composition of sorbents in the composite enhanced both the hydrophobic and the oleophilic properties; as a result, a more effective removal of the diesel and oil from the water surface was achieved.

  12. Natural Sunlight Shapes Crude Oil-Degrading Bacterial Communities in Northern Gulf of Mexico Surface Waters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacosa, Hernando P; Liu, Zhanfei; Erdner, Deana L

    2015-01-01

    Following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill in 2010, an enormous amount of oil was observed in the deep and surface waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Surface waters are characterized by intense sunlight and high temperature during summer. While the oil-degrading bacterial communities in the deep-sea plume have been widely investigated, the effect of natural sunlight on those in oil polluted surface waters remains unexplored to date. In this study, we incubated surface water from the DWH site with amendments of crude oil, Corexit dispersant, or both for 36 days under natural sunlight in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The bacterial community was analyzed over time for total abundance, density of alkane and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon degraders, and community composition via pyrosequencing. Our results showed that, for treatments with oil and/or Corexit, sunlight significantly reduced bacterial diversity and evenness and was a key driver of shifts in bacterial community structure. In samples containing oil or dispersant, sunlight greatly reduced abundance of the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus but increased the relative abundances of Alteromonas, Marinobacter, Labrenzia, Sandarakinotalea, Bartonella, and Halomonas. Dark samples with oil were represented by members of Thalassobius, Winogradskyella, Alcanivorax, Formosa, Pseudomonas, Eubacterium, Erythrobacter, Natronocella, and Coxiella. Both oil and Corexit inhibited the Candidatus Pelagibacter with or without sunlight exposure. For the first time, we demonstrated the effects of light in structuring microbial communities in water with oil and/or Corexit. Overall, our findings improve understanding of oil pollution in surface water, and provide unequivocal evidence that sunlight is a key factor in determining bacterial community composition and dynamics in oil polluted marine waters.

  13. Characterization of napthenic acids in oil sands process-affected waters using fluorescence technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brown, L.; Alostaz, M.; Ulrich, A.

    2009-01-01

    Process-affected water from oil sands production plants presents a major environmental challenge to oil sands operators due to its toxicity to different organisms as well as its corrosiveness in refinery units. This abstract investigated the use of fluorescence excitation-emission matrices to detect and characterize changes in naphthenic acid in oil sands process-affected waters. Samples from oil sands production plants and storage ponds were tested. The study showed that oil sands naphthenic acids show characteristic fluorescence signatures when excited by ultraviolet light in the range of 260 to 350 mm. The signal was a unique attribute of the naphthenic acid molecule. Changes in the fluorescence signature can be used to determine chemical changes such as degradation or aging. It was concluded that the technology can be used as a non-invasive continuous water quality monitoring tool to increase process control in oil sands processing plants

  14. Earth's field NMR detection of oil under arctic ice-water suppression

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conradi, Mark S.; Altobelli, Stephen A.; Sowko, Nicholas J.; Conradi, Susan H.; Fukushima, Eiichi

    2018-03-01

    Earth's field NMR has been developed to detect oil trapped under or in Arctic sea-ice. A large challenge, addressed here, is the suppression of the water signal that dominates the oil signal. Selective suppression of water is based on relaxation time T1 because of the negligible chemical shifts in the weak earth's magnetic field, making all proton signals overlap spectroscopically. The first approach is inversion-null recovery, modified for use with pre-polarization. The requirements for efficient inversion over a wide range of B1 and subsequent adiabatic reorientation of the magnetization to align with the static field are stressed. The second method acquires FIDs at two durations of pre-polarization and cancels the water component of the signal after the data are acquired. While less elegant, this technique imposes no stringent requirements. Similar water suppression is found in simulations for the two methods. Oil detection in the presence of water is demonstrated experimentally with both techniques.

  15. Dual Superlyophobic Copper Foam with Good Durability and Recyclability for High Flux, High Efficiency, and Continuous Oil-Water Separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Wenting; Li, Song; Liu, Yan; Xu, Zhengzheng; Wei, Sufeng; Wang, Guoyong; Lian, Jianshe; Jiang, Qing

    2018-03-21

    Traditional oil-water separation materials have to own ultrahigh or ultralow surface energy. Thus, they can only be wetted by one of the two, oil or water. Our experiment here demonstrates that the wettability in oil-water mixtures can be tuned by oil and water initially. Hierarchical voids are built on commercial copper foams with the help of hydrothermally synthesized titanium dioxide nanorods. The foams can be easily wetted by both oil and water. The water prewetted foams are superhydrophilic and superoleophobic under oil-water mixtures, meanwhile the oil prewetted foams are superoleophilic and superhydrophobic. In this paper, many kinds of water-oil mixtures were separated by two foams, prewetted by corresponding oil or water, respectively, combining a straight tee in a high flux, high efficiency, and continuous mode. This research indicates that oil-water mixtures can be separated more eco-friendly and at lower cost.

  16. Sunlight creates oxygenated species in water-soluble fractions of Deepwater horizon oil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ray, Phoebe Z. [Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148 (United States); Chen, Huan [National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, 1800 East Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32310-4005 (United States); Podgorski, David C. [National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, 1800 East Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32310-4005 (United States); Future Fuels Institute, Florida State University, 1800 East Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32310-4005 (United States); McKenna, Amy M. [National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, 1800 East Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32310-4005 (United States); Tarr, Matthew A., E-mail: mtarr@uno.edu [Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148 (United States)

    2014-09-15

    Graphical abstract: Sunlight oxygenates petroleum. - Highlights: • Oxidation seen in water-soluble oil fraction after exposure to simulated sunlight. • Oxygen addition occurred across a wide range of carbon number and DBE. • Oil compounds were susceptible to addition of multiple oxygens to each molecule. • Results provide understanding of fate of oil on water after exposure to sunlight. - Abstract: In order to assess the impact of sunlight on oil fate, Macondo well oil from the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) rig was mixed with pure water and irradiated with simulated sunlight. After irradiation, the water-soluble organics (WSO) from the dark and irradiated samples were extracted and characterized by ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Liquid–liquid extraction yielded two fractions from dark and irradiated water/oil mixtures: acidic WSOs (negative-ion electrospray (ESI)), and base/neutral WSOs (positive-ion ESI) coupled to FT-ICR MS to catalog molecular-level transformations that occur to Macondo-derived WSOs after solar irradiation. Such direct measure of oil phototransformation has not been previously reported. The most abundant heteroatom class detected in the irradiated WSO acid fractions correspond to molecules that contain five oxygens (O{sub 5}), while the most abundant acids in the dark samples contain two oxygen atoms per molecule (O{sub 2}). Higher-order oxygen classes (O{sub 5}–O{sub 9}) were abundant in the irradiated samples, but <1.5% relative abundance in the dark sample. The increased abundance of higher-order oxygen classes in the irradiated samples relative to the dark samples indicates that photooxidized components of the Macondo crude oil become water-soluble after irradiation. The base/neutral fraction showed decreased abundance of pyridinic nitrogen (N{sub 1}) concurrent with an increased abundance of N{sub 1}O{sub x} classes after irradiation. The predominance of higher

  17. Bioinspired polydopamine particles-assisted construction of superhydrophobic surfaces for oil/water separation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shang, Bin; Wang, Yanbing; Peng, Bo; Deng, Ziwei

    2016-11-15

    Frequent oil spillages and industrial discharge of oils/organic solvents have induced severe environmental pollution and ecological damage, and a great cost in energy and finance has been consumed to solve the problems raised. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a surface hydrophobic modification that can be applied to materials with desired properties of high separation efficiency, excellent selectivity and stable performance in extreme conditions during the oil/water separation. Herein, with combined bioinspirations from mussel adhesive protein (polydopamine) and superhydrophobic lotus leaf (hierarchical structures), we develop a general way to superhydrophobically modify various commercial materials, aiming for the selective removal of oils/organic solvents from water. In this procedure, immersing commercial materials (e.g. melamine sponge, stainless steel mesh, nylon netting and cotton cloth) into water/ethanol/ammonia mixtures at a low concentration of dopamine (DA, 2mg/mL) allows a polydopamine (PDA) coating with a tunable roughness appearing on the substrate in one step. This is because DA can self-polymerize and form PDA particles with a catalyst of ammonia, attaching to any surfaces due to abundant catechol and amine groups in PDA, and ultimately, resulting in hierarchical structures. The subsequent decoration with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecanethiol features the surface superhydrophobic and superoleophilic. This approach is straightforward and economic, and carried out under a mild, environmental-benign circumstance, with nonspecific substrate demands. In addition, the as-prepared superhydrophobic materials exhibit excellent separation performances including high absorption/separation capacity, excellent selectivity, and extraordinary recyclability for collecting various oils/organic solvents from water. These superhydrophobic materials have also verified to be highly chemical resistant, environment stable and mechanically durable. Therefore, this

  18. Application of non-aqueous solvents to batteries. I Physicochemical properties of propionitrile/water two-phase solvent relevant to zinc-bromine batteries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, P.; White, K.; Parker, A. J.

    1983-11-01

    The properties of bromine/propionitrile solution are investigated with a view to its use as an electrolyte in zinc-bromine batteries which use circulating electrolyte. The solution, which forms a two-phase system with water, has higher conductivity than the oils formed by complexation of bromine with organic salts such as N,N-methoxymethyl methylpiperidinium bromide and N,N-ethyl methylmorpholinium bromide. The activity of bromine in the aqueous phase of the bromine-propionitrile/water, two-phase system is very low; thus, coulombic efficiencies greater than 85 percent are achieved. Zinc-bromine batteries containing this solvent system show good charge/discharge characteristics.

  19. On-line measurement of oil contaminants in water by filter-based infrared analyzers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niemelae, P.

    1994-01-01

    The properties of a dedicated infrared analyzer for on-line measurement of the oil content of water, the Oili analyzer, are evaluated theoretically and with laboratory measurements. The analyzer was originally developed for controlling the discharge of ballast and bilge water from oil tankers and more than 200 such instruments have now been supplied for that purpose, representing about 10 % of the total market. Some technical improvements are suggested, and the improved instrument is shown to be capable of measuring oil in water to an accuracy of +- 20 % down to a detection limit of +5-10 ppm in the presence of high concentrations of interfering components and under varying environmental conditions. This opens up new potential applications for the instrument, e.g. the monitoring of water discharges from oil and gas production platforms. The infrared analyzer responds only to the dispersed oil fraction, and if the dissolved fraction is of interest as well, the instrument must be equipped with a UV option, as suggested here

  20. Endocrine disrupting activities of surface water associated with a West Virginia oil and gas industry wastewater disposal site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kassotis, Christopher D.; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Akob, Denise M.; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.; Mumford, Adam C.; Orem, William H.; Nagel, Susan C.

    2016-01-01

    Currently, > 95% of end disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater from unconventional oil and gas operations in the US occurs via injection wells. Key data gaps exist in understanding the potential impact of underground injection on surface water quality and environmental health. The goal of this study was to assess endocrine disrupting activity in surface water at a West Virginia injection well disposal site. Water samples were collected from a background site in the area and upstream, on, and downstream of the disposal facility. Samples were solid-phase extracted, and extracts assessed for agonist and antagonist hormonal activities for five hormone receptors in mammalian and yeast reporter gene assays. Compared to reference water extracts upstream and distal to the disposal well, samples collected adjacent and downstream exhibited considerably higher antagonist activity for the estrogen, androgen, progesterone, glucocorticoid and thyroid hormone receptors. In contrast, low levels of agonist activity were measured in upstream/distal sites, and were inhibited or absent at downstream sites with significant antagonism. Concurrent analyses by partner laboratories (published separately) describe the analytical and geochemical profiling of the water; elevated conductivity as well as high sodium, chloride, strontium, and barium concentrations indicate impacts due to handling of unconventional oil and gas wastewater. Notably, antagonist activities in downstream samples were at equivalent authentic standard concentrations known to disrupt reproduction and/or development in aquatic animals. Given the widespread use of injection wells for end-disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater, these data raise concerns for human and animal health nearby. - Highlights: • Oil and gas wastewater disposal may increase endocrine disrupting activity in water. • Tested EDC activity in surface water near oil and gas wastewater injection site. • Water downstream had significantly

  1. Endocrine disrupting activities of surface water associated with a West Virginia oil and gas industry wastewater disposal site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kassotis, Christopher D., E-mail: christopher.kassotis@duke.edu [Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 (United States); Iwanowicz, Luke R. [U.S. Geological Survey, Leetown Science Center, Fish Health Branch, 11649 Leetown Road, Kearneysville, WV 25430 (United States); Akob, Denise M.; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.; Mumford, Adam C. [U.S. Geological Survey, National Research Program, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 430, Reston, VA 20192 (United States); Orem, William H. [U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Energy Resources Science Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 956, Reston, VA 20192 (United States); Nagel, Susan C., E-mail: nagels@health.missouri.edu [Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women' s Health, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 (United States)

    2016-07-01

    Currently, > 95% of end disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater from unconventional oil and gas operations in the US occurs via injection wells. Key data gaps exist in understanding the potential impact of underground injection on surface water quality and environmental health. The goal of this study was to assess endocrine disrupting activity in surface water at a West Virginia injection well disposal site. Water samples were collected from a background site in the area and upstream, on, and downstream of the disposal facility. Samples were solid-phase extracted, and extracts assessed for agonist and antagonist hormonal activities for five hormone receptors in mammalian and yeast reporter gene assays. Compared to reference water extracts upstream and distal to the disposal well, samples collected adjacent and downstream exhibited considerably higher antagonist activity for the estrogen, androgen, progesterone, glucocorticoid and thyroid hormone receptors. In contrast, low levels of agonist activity were measured in upstream/distal sites, and were inhibited or absent at downstream sites with significant antagonism. Concurrent analyses by partner laboratories (published separately) describe the analytical and geochemical profiling of the water; elevated conductivity as well as high sodium, chloride, strontium, and barium concentrations indicate impacts due to handling of unconventional oil and gas wastewater. Notably, antagonist activities in downstream samples were at equivalent authentic standard concentrations known to disrupt reproduction and/or development in aquatic animals. Given the widespread use of injection wells for end-disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater, these data raise concerns for human and animal health nearby. - Highlights: • Oil and gas wastewater disposal may increase endocrine disrupting activity in water. • Tested EDC activity in surface water near oil and gas wastewater injection site. • Water downstream had significantly

  2. Three-Phase Flow and Capillarity in Porous Media

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Helset, H.M.

    1996-06-01

    Multiphase flow occurs in most production operations on the reservoir rock of an oil field. Three-phase flow occurs in many oil recovery processes, such as gas or water alternating gas injection into water flooded reservoirs, thermal oil recovery and surfactant flooding. In this doctoral thesis, three-phase flow in porous media is modeled using the method of characteristics and simple wave theory. The general mathematical methods are used to model different flow processes: secondary migration of hydrocarbons, gravity segregated three-phase flow, and displacement experiments for relative permeabilities. The main conclusions from applying the methods to the migration process through a water-saturated carrier bed to a partially permeable seal are: (1) the three-phase solutions are generally dominated by the very low gas viscosity and gas density, (2) countercurrent flow and interference between the gas and oil mobilities can lead to trapping in situations where the permeability contrast between the seal and the carrier bed is insufficient to trap oil alone, (3) zones in which pressures exceed those from hydrostatic gradients (overpressured zones) exist even when the permeability contrast between the seal and the carrier bed is modest. The discussion of gravity segregated flow identifies stable displacement fronts, which usually occur only for a single value of the gas-water injection ratio. The new method developed for interpreting displacement experiments, with capillary pressure included, is based on the travelling wave solution of the flow equations. 185 refs., 69 figs., 5 tabs.

  3. Direct numerical simulation of water droplet coalescence in the oil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohammadi, Mehdi; Shahhosseini, Shahrokh; Bayat, Mahmoud

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► VOF computational technique has been used to simulate coalescence of two water droplets in oil. ► The model was validated with the experimental data for binary droplet coalescence. ► Based on the CFD simulation results a correlation has been proposed to predict the coalescence time. - Abstract: Coalescence of two water droplets in the oil was simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. The finite volume numerical method was applied to solve the Navier–Stokes equations in conjunction with the Volume of Fluid (VOF) approach for interface tracking. The effects of some parameters consisting of the collision velocity, off-center collision parameter, oil viscosity and water–oil interfacial tension on the coalescence time were investigated. The simulation results were validated against the experimental data available in the literature. The results revealed that quicker coalescence could be achieved if the head-on collisions occur or the droplets approach each other with a high velocity. In addition, low oil viscosities or large water–oil interfacial tensions cause less coalescence time. Moreover, a correlation was developed to predict coalescence efficiency as a function of the mentioned parameters.

  4. Robust superhydrophobic surface by nature-inspired polyphenol chemistry for effective oil-water separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bu, Yiming; Huang, Jingjing; Zhang, Shiyu; Wang, Yinghua; Gu, Shaojin; Cao, Genyang; Yang, Hongjun; Ye, Dezhan; Zhou, Yingshan; Xu, Weilin

    2018-05-01

    With the ever-increasing oil spillages, oil-water separation has attracted widespread concern in recent years. In this work, a nature-inspired polyphenol method has been developed to fabricate the durable superhydrophobic surfaces for the oil-water separation. Inspiring from the adhesion of polyphenol and reducing capacity of free catechol/pyrogallol groups in polyphenol, firstly, the simple immersion of commercial materials (melamine sponge, PET, and nonwoven cotton fabrics) in tannic acid (TA) solution allows to form a multifunctional coating on the surface of sponge or fabrics, which was used as reducing reagent to generate Ag nanoparticles (NPs). Then, decoration of 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecanethiol (PFDT) molecules produced superhydrophobic surfaces. The surface topological structure, chemical composition, and superhydrophobic property of the as-prepared surface are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and water contact angle (WCA) measurements. The WCAs of as-prepared sponge and fabrics were higher than 150°. The stability, absorption capacity, and recyclability of as-prepared sponge and fabrics were investigated. The as-prepared sponge demonstrates high oil/water selectivity and high absorption capacity (66-150 g/g) for a broad variety of oils and organic solvents, and was chemically resistant, robust against abrasion, and long-term durability in harsh environments. Most important of all, it can continuously separate various kinds of oils or organic pollutants from the surface of water. This study presents a facile strategy to fabricate superhydrophobic materials for continuous oil-water separation, displaying great potential in large-scale practical application.

  5. Preparation of bovine serum albumin hollow microparticles by the water-in-oil emulsion solvent diffusion technique for drug delivery applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baimark, Y.; Srisa-Ard, M.; Srihaman, P.

    2012-01-01

    Biodegradable bovine serum albumin (BSA) hollow microparticles have been prepared by a single step and rapid water-in-oil emulsion solvent diffusion method without any emulsifiers and templates. Aqueous BSA solution and ethyl acetate were used as water and oil phases, respectively. BSA solution was cross-linked with polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (PEGDE) before microparticle formation. Methylene blue (MB) was used as a water-soluble model drug to entrap in the microparticle matrix. The non-cross-linked and cross-linked BSA microparticles contained empty core structure with outer smooth surface. Inner surface and matrix of hollow microparticles consisted void structure. Drug loading did not affect the microparticle morphology. Cumulative drug released from microparticles was decreased steadily as decreasing of MB ratio and increasing of PEGDE ratio. The BSA hollow microparticles may have potential application in controlled release drug delivery application. (author)

  6. Influence of ionic complexation on release rate profiles from multiple water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnet, Marie; Cansell, Maud; Placin, Frédéric; David-Briand, Elisabeth; Anton, Marc; Leal-Calderon, Fernando

    2010-07-14

    Water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions were prepared, and the kinetics of release of magnesium ions from the internal to the external water phase was followed. Different chelating agents (phosvitin and gluconate) were used to bind magnesium within the prospect of improving the ion retention in the internal aqueous droplets. Magnesium release was monitored for 1 month of storage, for each formulation, with and without chelation, at two storage temperatures (4 and 25 degrees C). Leakage occurred without film rupturing (coalescence) and was mainly due to entropically driven diffusion/permeation phenomena. The experimental results revealed a clear correlation between the effectiveness of chelating agents to delay the delivery and their binding capacity characterized by the equilibrium affinity constant. The kinetic data (percent released versus time curves) were interpreted within the framework of a kinetic model based on diffusion and taking into account magnesium chelation.

  7. Fabrication of yttria microcapsules for radiotherapy from water/oil emulsion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyazaki, Toshiki; Kai, Tomohiro; Ishida, Eiichi; Kawashita, Masakazu; Hiraoka, Masahiro

    2010-01-01

    Radiotherapy using ceramic microparticles that act as β-emitters after neutron bombardment is attractive as a minimally invasive option for cancer treatment. Yttria (Y 2 O 3 ) microcapsules (20-30 μm in diameter) are capable of cutting off the nutrition supply in cancer cells through an embolization effect. In the present study, Y 2 O 3 microcapsules were prepared via precipitation of yttrium hydroxide from a water/oil (W/O) emulsion and a subsequent heat treatment. The emulsion was prepared by dispersing yttrium hydroxide sol in 2-ethyl-1-hexanol. Microcapsules were obtained by an addition of the emulsion in butanol via dehydration and subsequent aggregation of the yttrium hydroxide. The effects of the rotation speed and surfactant concentration on the diameter of the particles were investigated. The diameter of the microcapsules showed a tendency to decrease with increases in rotation speed during emulsion preparation or surfactant concentration in the oil phase. A high yield of the Y 2 O 3 microcapsules with a diameter of 20-30 μm were obtained after a heat treatment at the optimized rotation speed and surfactant concentration. The obtained microcapsules showed high chemical durability in a simulated body environment. (author)

  8. Concentration of vanadium in crude oil and water using inductively-coupled plasma spectrometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amin, Y.M.; Hassan, M.A.; Junkin, K.; Mahat, R.H.; Raphie, B.

    1991-01-01

    Vanadium is a trace element that is usually associated to crude oil and its products. In this study the concentration of vanadium in a few samples of local crude oil, sea and river water were determined using inductively-coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP). It is hoped that the concentration of vanadium in water can be used to indicate the possible extent of oil contamination

  9. A Novel Approach for Analyzing Water Diffusion in Mineral and Vegetable Oil-Paper Insulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Du

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Water diffusion characteristics of mineral and vegetable oil-paper insulation systems are important for insulation condition evaluation of oil-filled transformers. In this paper, we describe a novel application method of in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR approach for analyzing the diffusion process of water molecules in oil-immersed insulating paper. Two-dimensional correlation was used to analyze the 3700 cm-1 to 3000 cm- 1 hydroxyl peak. The observed results indicated that water molecules form two types of hydroxyl (OH with oil-impregnated paper in the diffusion process are weak and strong hydrogen bonds, respectively. 2D infrared correlation analysis revealed that three OH stretching vibration spectra absorption peaks was existed in hygroscopic vegetable oil-immersed insulating paper. And there are four OH stretching vibration spectra absorption peaks in mineral oil-immersed insulation paper. Furthermore, mineral oil-impregnated paper and vegetable oil-impregnated paper diffusion coefficients were obtained by nonlinear fitting.

  10. Isolation and Identification of Crude Oil Degrading and Biosurfactant Producing Bacteria from the Oil-Contaminated Soils of Gachsaran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyyedeh Zahra Hashemi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Petroleum hydrocarbons are harmful to the environment, human health, and all other living creatures. Oil and its byproducts in contact with water block sunshine to phytoplanktons and thus break the food chain and damage the marine food source. This study aims to isolate the crude oil degrading and biosurfactant producing bacteria from the oil contaminated soils of Gachsaran, Iran. Materials and Methods: Isolation was performed in peptone-water medium with yeast extract. Oil displacement area, emulsification index and bacterial phylogeny using 16S rRNA analysis were studied. Results and Conclusion: Three isolates were able to degrade the crude oil. In the first day, there were two phases in the medium; after a few days, these three bacteria degraded the crude oil until there was only one phase left in the medium. One strain was selected as a superior strain by homogenizing until the medium became clear and transparent. This method confirmed that the strain produces biosurfactant. According to the morphological and biochemical tests, the strain isolated from the oil contaminated soils is a member of Bacillus subtilis, so to study the bacterial phylogeny and taxonomy of the strain, an analysis of 16S rRNA was carried out, and the phylogenic tree confirmed them. The results verified that oil contaminated soils are good source for isolation of the biosurfactant producing bacteria.

  11. Evaluation of the crude oil viscosity variation in function of the demulsifiers addition; Avaliacao da variacao da viscosidade de oleo cru em funcao da adicao de desemulsificante

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopes, Jansen M.; Lucas, Elisabete F. [Universidade Federal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Macromoleculas]. E-mail: elucas@ima.ufrj.br; Neves, Guilherme B.M. [COMAB Especialidades Quimicas Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)]. E-mail: tecnico@comabrio.com

    2003-07-01

    One way of improving well production is the addition of demulsifier already in the gas lift. This is due to the apparent viscosity of water-in-oil emulsions being higher than apparent viscosity of crude oil, which in turn is higher than the apparent viscosity of an water-in-oil dual phase admixture and is also higher than the apparent viscosity of an oil-in-water emulsion. However, there are some situations where, in order to obtain separate flows of oil and water phases, demulsifier should be added in specific amounts in order to promote the desired phase separation. In heavy oils water and oil phase separation may be hard to obtain, however, the right demulsifier amount may imply in a considerable decrease in petroleum viscosity even without the appearance of two phases, making the flow easier. This work has evaluated the viscosity of a heavy crude having API degree 14 and BSW 52%, as a function of the addition of different amounts of DEMTROL BR 67, manufactured by Dow Quimica/Comab, Brazil, as demulsifier. (author)

  12. Development and application of YSJ-1 type oil-water interface level gauge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun Punan

    2003-01-01

    A new type nuclear device for measuring the oil-water interface level as well as the total liquid level was presented. A series of new methods, such as non-linear fitting of the level, automatic compensations for the deviation caused by the decay of radioactive source, the medium's temperature, etc., were employed. Comparing with other non-nuclear techniques, this device has the following advantages: non-contact surveying, anti-interference of paraffin wax coagulating and a little of repairing. The measuring range is 0-200cm for total liquid level and 0-100cm for oil-water interface level respectively. The measurement precision is 1% for total liquid level and 2% for the interface level respectively. The respond time is ≤10s, the long time stability ≤0.5% FS/48h and the temperature influence ≤0.01% FS /degree C. The gauge can be used in surveying oil-water interface level and total liquid level in oil-water separation tanks on oil fields. It is also suitable to measure the interface level of two kinds of liquids as well as the total liquid level in various storage tanks

  13. Design of three-phase gravity separators for heavy oils; Projeto de separadores trifasicos para oleos pesados

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Rosivania P.; Bannwart, Antonio C. [Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil); Carvalho, Carlos H.M. de [PETROBRAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisas (CENPES)

    2004-07-01

    The primary processing of crude oil consists in the separation of oil, gas, water (and solids suspensions, if present), the conditioning of the hydrocarbons for transportation to the refinery, and the water treatment for re-use. With the discovery of significant fields of heavy oil in Brazil, whose densities are close to the density of water and viscosities are about hundreds to thousand times higher than the viscosity of water, the production and primary processing of this fluid with usual technology is not attractive and often unfeasible. It is well known that the demand from the majority of the refineries is that the quantity of water dispersion in the oil (BSW) is below 1%, so this work investigates the behavior of the water dispersion in heavy oil, causing an increase in viscosity and density. Therefore, this work intends to define strategies to efficiently separate these liquids, emphasizing the physical aspects of separation. Mathematica software was used for the equation modeling, which governs the horizontal separation vases dimensioning, allowing the observation of the influence of many variables on the separator dimensions. (author)

  14. Non-aqueous heavy oil extraction from oil sand

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bohnert, George [National Nuclear Security Administration (United States)

    2011-07-01

    The Kansas City plant operated by Honeywell has a long history of working with DOE NNSA on engineering and manufacturing services supporting national security requirements. The plant has developed a non-aqueous method for heavy oil extraction from oil sands. This method is environmentally friendly as it does not use any external body of water, which would normally be contaminated in the conventional method. It is a 2 phase process consisting of terpene, limonene or alpha pinene, and carbon dioxide. The CO2 and terpene phases are both closed loop systems which minimizes material loss. The limonene and alpha pinene are both naturally derived solvents that come from citrus sources or pine trees respectively. Carbon dioxide is an excellent co-solvent with terpene. There is also a possibility for heat loss recovery during the distillation phase. This process produces clean dry sand. Laboratory tests have concluded that this using non-aqueous liquids process works effectively.

  15. Naphthenic acids hydrates of gases: influence of the water/oil interface on the dispersing properties of an acidic crude oil; Acides naphteniques hydrates de gaz de l'interface eau/huile sur les proprietes dispersantes d'un brut acide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arla, D.

    2006-01-15

    Nowadays, the development of offshore oil production under increasing water depths (high pressures and low temperatures) has led oil companies to focus on gas hydrates risks. Hydrates are crystals containing gas and water molecules which can plug offshore pipelines. It has been shown that some asphaltenic crude oils stabilize water-in-oil emulsions (W/O) during several months and exhibit very good anti-agglomerant properties avoiding hydrate plugs formation. In this work, we have studied the 'anti-hydrate' properties of a West African acidic crude oil called crude AH. This oil contains naphthenic acids, RCOOH hydrocarbons which are sensitive to both the pH and the salinity of the water phase.The emulsifying properties of the crude AH have firstly been explored. It has been shown that heavy resins and asphaltenes are the main compounds of the crude AH responsible for the long term stability of the W/O emulsions whereas the napthenates RCOO{sup -} lead to less stable W/O emulsions. Dealing with hydrates, the crude AH exhibits moderate anti-agglomerant properties due to the presence of heavy resins and asphaltenes. However, the naphthenates RCOO{sup -} drastically increase the formation of hydrate plugs. Moreover, it has been pointed out that hydrate particles agglomeration accelerates the kinetics of hydrate formation and enhances the water/oil separation. In order to explain these behaviours, a mechanism of agglomeration by 'sticking' between a hydrate particle and a water droplet has been proposed. Finally, we have developed a model which describes the physico-chemical equilibria of the naphthenic acids in the binary system water/crude AH, in order to transpose the results obtained in the laboratory to the real oil field conditions. (author)

  16. Hydrolysis of corn oil using subcritical water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pinto Jair Sebastião S.

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available This work presents the results of a study on the use of subcritical water as both solvent and reactant for the hydrolysis of corn oil without the use of acids or alkalis at temperatures of 150-280 degreesC. Corn oil hydrolysis leads to the formation of its respective fatty acids with the same efficiency of conventional methods. Fatty acids form an important group of products, which are used in a range of applications. The confirmation and identification of the hydrolysis products was done by HT-HRGC-FID and HRGC/MS.

  17. Applying CFD in the Analysis of Heavy-Oil Transportation in Curved Pipes Using Core-Flow Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S Conceição

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Multiphase flow of oil, gas and water occurs in the petroleum industry from the reservoir to the processing units. The occurrence of heavy oils in the world is increasing significantly and points to the need for greater investment in the reservoirs exploitation and, consequently, to the development of new technologies for the production and transport of this oil. Therefore, it is interesting improve techniques to ensure an increase in energy efficiency in the transport of this oil. The core-flow technique is one of the most advantageous methods of lifting and transporting of oil. The core-flow technique does not alter the oil viscosity, but change the flow pattern and thus, reducing friction during heavy oil transportation. This flow pattern is characterized by a fine water pellicle that is formed close to the inner wall of the pipe, aging as lubricant of the oil flowing in the core of the pipe. In this sense, the objective of this paper is to study the isothermal flow of heavy oil in curved pipelines, employing the core-flow technique. A three-dimensional, transient and isothermal mathematical model that considers the mixture and k-e  turbulence models to address the gas-water-heavy oil three-phase flow in the pipe was applied for analysis. Simulations with different flow patterns of the involved phases (oil-gas-water have been done, in order to optimize the transport of heavy oils. Results of pressure and volumetric fraction distribution of the involved phases are presented and analyzed. It was verified that the oil core lubricated by a fine water layer flowing in the pipe considerably decreases pressure drop.

  18. Oil/water displacement in microfluidic packed beds under weakly water-wetting conditions: competition between precursor film flow and piston-like displacement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanino, Yukie; Zacarias-Hernandez, Xanat; Christensen, Magali

    2018-02-01

    Optical microscopy was used to measure depth-averaged oil distribution in a quasi-monolayer of crushed marble packed in a microfluidic channel as it was displaced by water. By calibrating the transmitted light intensity to oil thickness, we account for depth variation in the fluid distribution. Experiments reveal that oil saturation at water breakthrough decreases with increasing Darcy velocity, U_{ {w}}, between capillary numbers {Ca} = μ _{ {w}} U_{ {w}}/σ = 9× 10^{-7} and 9× 10^{-6}, where μ _{ {w}} is the dynamic viscosity of water and σ is the oil/water interfacial tension, under the conditions considered presently. In contrast, end-point (long-time) remaining oil saturation depends only weakly on U_{ {w}}. This transient dependence on velocity is attributed to the competition between precursor film flow, which controls early time invasion dynamics but is inefficient at displacing oil, and piston-like displacement, which controls ultimate oil recovery. These results demonstrate that microfluidic experiments using translucent grains and fluids are a convenient tool for quantitative investigation of sub-resolution liquid/liquid displacement in porous media.

  19. Coalescence kinetics of oil-in-water emulsions studied with microfluidics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krebs, T.; Schroen, C.G.P.H.; Boom, R.M.

    2013-01-01

    We report the results of experiments on the coalescence dynamics in flowing oil-in-water emulsions using an integrated microfluidic device. The microfluidic circuit permits direct observation of shear-induced collisions and coalescence events between emulsion droplets. Three mineral oils with a

  20. Field experiments with subsurface releases of oil and and dyed water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rye, H.; Brandvik, P.J.; Strom, T.

    1998-01-01

    A field experiment with a subsurface release of oil and air was carried out in June 1996 close to the Frigg Field in the North Sea area. One of the purposes of this sea trial was to increase the knowledge concerning the behaviour of the oil and gas during a subsurface blowout. This was done by releasing oil and air at 106 meters depth with a realistic gas oil ratio (GOR=67) and release velocity of the oil. In addition to the oil release, several releases with dyed water and gas (GOR=7 - 65) were performed. Important and unique data were collected during these subsurface releases. In particular, the experiments with the dyed water releases combined with air turned out to be an efficient way of obtaining field data for the behaviour of subsurface plumes. The main conclusions from analysis for the data collected are: the field methodology used to study blowout releases in the field appears to be appropriate. The use of dyed water to determine the performance of the subsurface plume proved out to be an efficient way to obtain reliable and useful data. The behaviour of the subsurface plume is very sensitive to gas flow rates. For low gas flow rates, the plume did not reach the sea surface at all due to the presence of stratification in the ambient water. Some discrepancies were found between a numerical model for subsurface releases and field results. These discrepancies are pointed out, and recommendations for possible model improvements are given. (author)

  1. Rapid Formation of Microbe-Oil Aggregates and Changes in Community Composition in Coastal Surface Water Following Exposure to Oil and the Dispersant Corexit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shawn M. Doyle

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available During the Deepwater Horizon (DWH oil spill, massive quantities of oil were deposited on the seafloor via a large-scale marine oil-snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation (MOSSFA event. The role of chemical dispersants (e.g., Corexit applied during the DWH oil spill clean-up in helping or hindering the formation of this MOSSFA event are not well-understood. Here, we present the first experiment related to the DWH oil spill to specifically investigate the relationship between microbial community structure, oil and Corexit®, and marine oil-snow in coastal surface waters. We observed the formation of micron-scale aggregates of microbial cells around droplets of oil and dispersant and found that their rate of formation was directly related to the concentration of oil within the water column. These micro-aggregates are potentially important precursors to the formation of larger marine oil-snow particles. Therefore, our observation that Corexit® significantly enhanced their formation suggests dispersant application may play a role in the development of MOSSFA events. We also observed that microbial communities in marine surface waters respond to oil and oil plus Corexit® differently and much more rapidly than previously measured, with major shifts in community composition occurring within only a few hours of experiment initiation. In the oil-amended treatments without Corexit®, this manifested as an increase in community diversity due to the outgrowth of several putative aliphatic- and aromatic-hydrocarbon degrading genera, including phytoplankton-associated taxa. In contrast, microbial community diversity was reduced in mesocosms containing chemically dispersed oil. Importantly, different consortia of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria responded to oil and chemically dispersed oil, indicating that functional redundancy in the pre-spill community likely results in hydrocarbon consumption in both undispersed and dispersed oils, but by different

  2. Rapid Formation of Microbe-Oil Aggregates and Changes in Community Composition in Coastal Surface Water Following Exposure to Oil and the Dispersant Corexit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doyle, Shawn M; Whitaker, Emily A; De Pascuale, Veronica; Wade, Terry L; Knap, Anthony H; Santschi, Peter H; Quigg, Antonietta; Sylvan, Jason B

    2018-01-01

    During the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, massive quantities of oil were deposited on the seafloor via a large-scale marine oil-snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation (MOSSFA) event. The role of chemical dispersants (e.g., Corexit) applied during the DWH oil spill clean-up in helping or hindering the formation of this MOSSFA event are not well-understood. Here, we present the first experiment related to the DWH oil spill to specifically investigate the relationship between microbial community structure, oil and Corexit®, and marine oil-snow in coastal surface waters. We observed the formation of micron-scale aggregates of microbial cells around droplets of oil and dispersant and found that their rate of formation was directly related to the concentration of oil within the water column. These micro-aggregates are potentially important precursors to the formation of larger marine oil-snow particles. Therefore, our observation that Corexit® significantly enhanced their formation suggests dispersant application may play a role in the development of MOSSFA events. We also observed that microbial communities in marine surface waters respond to oil and oil plus Corexit® differently and much more rapidly than previously measured, with major shifts in community composition occurring within only a few hours of experiment initiation. In the oil-amended treatments without Corexit®, this manifested as an increase in community diversity due to the outgrowth of several putative aliphatic- and aromatic-hydrocarbon degrading genera, including phytoplankton-associated taxa. In contrast, microbial community diversity was reduced in mesocosms containing chemically dispersed oil. Importantly, different consortia of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria responded to oil and chemically dispersed oil, indicating that functional redundancy in the pre-spill community likely results in hydrocarbon consumption in both undispersed and dispersed oils, but by different bacterial taxa

  3. Modeling of Two-Phase Flow in Rough-Walled Fracture Using Level Set Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunfeng Dai

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available To describe accurately the flow characteristic of fracture scale displacements of immiscible fluids, an incompressible two-phase (crude oil and water flow model incorporating interfacial forces and nonzero contact angles is developed. The roughness of the two-dimensional synthetic rough-walled fractures is controlled with different fractal dimension parameters. Described by the Navier–Stokes equations, the moving interface between crude oil and water is tracked using level set method. The method accounts for differences in densities and viscosities of crude oil and water and includes the effect of interfacial force. The wettability of the rough fracture wall is taken into account by defining the contact angle and slip length. The curve of the invasion pressure-water volume fraction is generated by modeling two-phase flow during a sudden drainage. The volume fraction of water restricted in the rough-walled fracture is calculated by integrating the water volume and dividing by the total cavity volume of the fracture while the two-phase flow is quasistatic. The effect of invasion pressure of crude oil, roughness of fracture wall, and wettability of the wall on two-phase flow in rough-walled fracture is evaluated.

  4. Alkalinity in oil field waters - what alkalinity is and how it is measured

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaasa, B.; Oestvold, T.

    1996-01-01

    The alkalinity is an important parameter in the description of pH-behaviour, buffer capacity and scaling potentials in oil field waters. Although the alkalinity is widely used, it seems to be considerable confusion in connection with the concept. It is often used incorrectly and different authors define the concept in different ways. Several different methods for the determination of alkalinity can be found in the literature. This paper discusses the definition of alkalinity and how to use alkalinity in oil field waters to obtain data of importance for scale and pH predictions. There is also shown how a simple titration of oil field waters can give both the alkalinity and the content of organic acids in these waters. It is obvious from these findings that most of the methods used to day may give considerable errors when applied to oil field waters with high contents of organic acids. 8 refs., 8 figs., 5 tabs

  5. Microfluidic and nanofluidic phase behaviour characterization for industrial CO2, oil and gas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bao, Bo; Riordon, Jason; Mostowfi, Farshid; Sinton, David

    2017-08-08

    Microfluidic systems that leverage unique micro-scale phenomena have been developed to provide rapid, accurate and robust analysis, predominantly for biomedical applications. These attributes, in addition to the ability to access high temperatures and pressures, have motivated recent expanded applications in phase measurements relevant to industrial CO 2 , oil and gas applications. We here present a comprehensive review of this exciting new field, separating microfluidic and nanofluidic approaches. Microfluidics is practical, and provides similar phase properties analysis to established bulk methods with advantages in speed, control and sample size. Nanofluidic phase behaviour can deviate from bulk measurements, which is of particular relevance to emerging unconventional oil and gas production from nanoporous shale. In short, microfluidics offers a practical, compelling replacement of current bulk phase measurement systems, whereas nanofluidics is not practical, but uniquely provides insight into phase change phenomena at nanoscales. Challenges, trends and opportunities for phase measurements at both scales are highlighted.

  6. Self-similar distribution of oil spills in European coastal waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Redondo, Jose M; Platonov, Alexei K

    2009-01-01

    Marine pollution has been highlighted thanks to the advances in detection techniques as well as increasing coverage of catastrophes (e.g. the oil tankers Amoco Cadiz, Exxon Valdez, Erika, and Prestige) and of smaller oil spills from ships. The new satellite based sensors SAR and ASAR and new methods of oil spill detection and analysis coupled with self-similar statistical techniques allow surveys of environmental pollution monitoring large areas of the ocean. We present a statistical analysis of more than 700 SAR images obtained during 1996-2000, also comparing the detected small pollution events with the historical databases of great marine accidents during 1966-2004 in European coastal waters. We show that the statistical distribution of the number of oil spills as a function of their size corresponds to Zipf's law, and that the common small spills are comparable to the large accidents due to the high frequency of the smaller pollution events. Marine pollution from tankers and ships, which has been detected as oil spills between 0.01 and 100 km 2 , follows the marine transit routes. Multi-fractal methods are used to distinguish between natural slicks and spills, in order to estimate the oil spill index in European coastal waters, and in particular, the north-western Mediterranean Sea, which, due to the influence of local winds, shows optimal conditions for oil spill detection.

  7. Superhydrophobicity construction with dye-sensitised TiO2 on fabric surface for both oil/water separation and water bulk contaminants purification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Linfeng; Zhang, Shengmiao; Zhang, Meng; Chen, Jianding

    2017-12-01

    For the promising material for both oil/water separation and water-soluble contaminants, the Dye@TiO2-TEOS/VTEO hybrid modified polyester fabric is developed by a simple dip-coating process, which combines Dye-sensitised TiO2 with silicon contained superhydrophobic coating to guarantee the long-term stability of Dye-sensitised TiO2 system as well as material's sustainability. The modified fabric possesses selective oil/water seperation properties towards water and oil, besides, mechanical, acid and alkali durability shows this material's appropriate performance on oil/water separation. UV-Vis absorption spectrum reveals the Dye 4-(2H-imidazol-2-ylazo) benzoic acid could sensitize the semiconductor TiO2 for visible light catalytic organic pollutant degradation that is also confirmed by methylene blue degradation experiment. Density Functional calculation (DFT) witnesses that HOMO, HOMO-1 of Dye contributed by oxygen bonding to TiO2 can insert into TiO2 band gap and result in low energy electron excitation. The ability of oil/water separation and water-soluble contaminants purification provides the material opportunity to practical applications in environmental restoration and human life.

  8. Spreading of oil films on water in the surface tension regime

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Camp, D.W.

    1985-01-01

    Surface tension forces will cause an oil to spread over water if the tension of the oil film (the summed surface and interfacial tensions for bulk oil films, or the equilibrium spreading tension for monomolecular films) is less than the surface tension of water. For oil films spreading in a 40 cm long channel, measurements are made of leading edge position and lateral profiles of film thickness, velocity, and tension as a function of time. Measurements of the tension profiles, important for evaluating proposed theories, is made possible by the development of a new technique based on the Wilhelmy method. The oils studied were silicones, fatty acids and alcohols, and mixtures of surfactants in otherwise nonspreading oils. The single-component oils show an acceleration zone connecting a slow-moving inner region with a fast-moving leading monolayer. The dependence of film tension on film thickness for spreading single-component oils often differs from that at equilibrium. The mixtures show a bulk oil film configuration which extends to the leading edge and have velocity profiles which increase smoothly. The theoretical framework, similarity transformation, and asymptotic solutions of Foda and Cox for single-component oils were shown to be valid. An analysis of spreading surfactant-oil mixtures is developed which allows them to be treated under this framework. An easily-used semi-empirical model is proposed which allows them to be treated under this framework. An easily-used semi-empirical model is proposed which allows accurate prediction of detailed spreading behavior for any spreading oil.

  9. Water-related Issues Affecting Conventional Oil and Gas Recovery and Potential Oil-Shale Development in the Uinta Basin, Utah

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berg, Michael Vanden; Anderson, Paul; Wallace, Janae; Morgan, Craig; Carney, Stephanie

    2012-04-30

    Saline water disposal is one of the most pressing issues with regard to increasing petroleum and natural gas production in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah. Conventional oil fields in the basin provide 69 percent of Utah?s total crude oil production and 71 percent of Utah?s total natural gas, the latter of which has increased 208% in the past 10 years. Along with hydrocarbons, wells in the Uinta Basin produce significant quantities of saline water ? nearly 4 million barrels of saline water per month in Uintah County and nearly 2 million barrels per month in Duchesne County. As hydrocarbon production increases, so does saline water production, creating an increased need for economic and environmentally responsible disposal plans. Current water disposal wells are near capacity, and permitting for new wells is being delayed because of a lack of technical data regarding potential disposal aquifers and questions concerning contamination of freshwater sources. Many companies are reluctantly resorting to evaporation ponds as a short-term solution, but these ponds have limited capacity, are prone to leakage, and pose potential risks to birds and other wildlife. Many Uinta Basin operators claim that oil and natural gas production cannot reach its full potential until a suitable, long-term saline water disposal solution is determined. The enclosed project was divided into three parts: 1) re-mapping the base of the moderately saline aquifer in the Uinta Basin, 2) creating a detailed geologic characterization of the Birds Nest aquifer, a potential reservoir for large-scale saline water disposal, and 3) collecting and analyzing water samples from the eastern Uinta Basin to establish baseline water quality. Part 1: Regulators currently stipulate that produced saline water must be disposed of into aquifers that already contain moderately saline water (water that averages at least 10,000 mg/L total dissolved solids). The UGS has re-mapped the moderately saline water boundary

  10. A pulse radiolysis study of oil/water microemulsions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Guozhong; Katsumura, Yosuke; Chitose, Norihisa; Zuo, Zhihua

    2000-01-01

    The spectrum and yield of e aq - in quaternary benzene/water and dodecane/water microemulsions were found to be identical with those in pure water. This indicates probably the scavenging of excess electrons produced in the oil by water. To the contrary, the yield of OH radicals, determined after scavenging and conversion into (SCN) 2 -· , was proportional to water content of the microemulsion. The e aq - decay and the total yield of peroxides in aerated microemulsion were determined and the characteristics of oxidation in microemulsion was discussed. (author)

  11. Oil Contact Angles in a Water-Decane-Silicon Dioxide System: Effects of Surface Charge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Shijing; Wang, Jingyao; Wu, Jiazhong; Liu, Qingjie; Sun, Chengzhen; Bai, Bofeng

    2018-04-19

    Oil wettability in the water-oil-rock systems is very sensitive to the evolution of surface charges on the rock surfaces induced by the adsorption of ions and other chemical agents in water flooding. Through a set of large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal the effects of surface charge on the oil contact angles in an ideal water-decane-silicon dioxide system. The results show that the contact angles of oil nano-droplets have a great dependence on the surface charges. As the surface charge density exceeds a critical value of 0.992 e/nm 2 , the contact angle reaches up to 78.8° and the water-wet state is very apparent. The variation of contact angles can be confirmed from the number density distributions of oil molecules. With increasing the surface charge density, the adsorption of oil molecules weakens and the contact areas between nano-droplets and silicon dioxide surface are reduced. In addition, the number density distributions, RDF distributions, and molecular orientations indicate that the oil molecules are adsorbed on the silicon dioxide surface layer-by-layer with an orientation parallel to the surface. However, the layered structure of oil molecules near the silicon dioxide surface becomes more and more obscure at higher surface charge densities.

  12. Experimental measurement of oil–water two-phase flow by data fusion of electrical tomography sensors and venturi tube

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Yinyan; Deng, Yuchi; Zhang, Maomao; Yu, Peining; Li, Yi

    2017-01-01

    Oil–water two-phase flows are commonly found in the production processes of the petroleum industry. Accurate online measurement of flow rates is crucial to ensure the safety and efficiency of oil exploration and production. A research team from Tsinghua University has developed an experimental apparatus for multiphase flow measurement based on an electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensor, an electrical resistance tomography (ERT) sensor, and a venturi tube. This work presents the phase fraction and flow rate measurements of oil–water two-phase flows based on the developed apparatus. Full-range phase fraction can be obtained by the combination of the ECT sensor and the ERT sensor. By data fusion of differential pressures measured by venturi tube and the phase fraction, the total flow rate and single-phase flow rate can be calculated. Dynamic experiments were conducted on the multiphase flow loop in horizontal and vertical pipelines and at various flow rates. (paper)

  13. Energy fluxes in oil palm plantations as affected by water storage in the trunk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meijide, Ana; Röll, Alexander; Fan, Yuanchao; Herbst, Mathias; Niu, Furong; Tiedemann, Frank; June, Tania; Rauf, Abdul; Hölscher, Dirk; Knohl, Alexander

    2017-04-01

    Oil palm is increasingly expanding, particularly in Indonesia, but information on water and energy fluxes in oil palm plantations is still very limited and on how those are affected by environmental conditions or oil palm age. Using the eddy covariance technique, we studied turbulent fluxes of sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat and gross primary production (GPP) for 8 months each in a young oil palm plantation (1-year old) and subsequently in a mature plantation (12-year old) in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. We measured transpiration (T) simultaneously using a sap flux technique. The energy budget was dominated by LE in both plantations, particularly in the mature one, where it represented up to 70% of the available energy. In the young oil palm plantation, evapotranspiration (ET) was significantly reduced and H fluxes were higher. This affected the Bowen ratio, defined as the ratio of H and LE, which was higher in the 1-year old plantation (0.67±0.33), where it remained constant during the day, than in the mature plantation (0.14±0.09), where it varied considerably over the day, suggesting that water accumulated inside the canopy. Using the Community Land Model (CLM), a process based land surface model that has been adapted to oil palm functional traits (i.e. CLM-Palm), we investigated the contribution of different water sources to the measured fluxes. CLM-Palm differentiates leaf and stem surfaces in modelling water interception and is therefore able to diagnose the fraction of dry leaves that contribute to T and the wet fraction of all vegetation surfaces (leaf and stem) that contributes to evaporation. Results from our simulations strengthen our hypothesis of significant contribution of canopy evaporation to ET. As observed in the field, water accumulates inside the canopy in the mature plantation in oil palm trunk surfaces including epiphytes, creating water reservoirs in the trunk, which potentially contribute to ET when they evaporate. The decoupling

  14. Flavour release of aldehydes and diacetyl in oil/water systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haahr, Anne-Mette; Bredie, W. L. P.; Stahnke, Louise Heller

    2000-01-01

    from the pure oil. The release over time for diacetyl and (E,E)-2,4-hexadienal showed a linear relationship in all systems. The other compounds followed an exponential relationship between the time and the fraction released in the aqueous systems. It was demonstrated that the release of the volatile...... compounds was dependent on the chain length, the degree of unsaturation as well as the characteristics of the model system. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.......The concentration- and time-dependent release of three C-6-aldehydes, six C-9-aldehydes and diacetyl was studied in model systems. The systems were water, rapeseed oil and oil-in-water emulsions. Dynamic headspace sampling was used to collect the volatile compounds. In the concentration...

  15. Performance of Surfactant Methyl Ester Sulphonate solution for Oil Well Stimulation in reservoir sandstone TJ Field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eris, F. R.; Hambali, E.; Suryani, A.; Permadi, P.

    2017-05-01

    Asphaltene, paraffin, wax and sludge deposition, emulsion and water blocking are kinds ofprocess that results in a reduction of the fluid flow from the reservoir into formation which causes a decrease of oil wells productivity. Oil well Stimulation can be used as an alternative to solve oil well problems. Oil well stimulation technique requires applying of surfactant. Sodium Methyl Ester Sulphonate (SMES) of palm oil is an anionic surfactant derived from renewable natural resource that environmental friendly is one of potential surfactant types that can be used in oil well stimulation. This study was aimed at formulation SMES as well stimulation agent that can identify phase transitions to phase behavior in a brine-surfactant-oil system and altered the wettability of rock sandstone and limestone. Performance of SMES solution tested by thermal stability test, phase behavioral examination and rocks wettability test. The results showed that SMES solution (SMES 5% + xylene 5% in the diesel with addition of 1% NaCl at TJformation water and SMES 5% + xylene 5% in methyl ester with the addition of NaCl 1% in the TJ formation water) are surfactant that can maintain thermal stability, can mostly altered the wettability toward water-wet in sandstone reservoir, TJ Field.

  16. Membranes as separators of dispersed emulsion phases

    OpenAIRE

    Lefferts, A.G.

    1997-01-01

    The reuse or discharge of industrial waste waters, containing small fractions of dispersed oil, requires a purification treatment for which membranes can be used. If only little oil is present, removal of the dispersed phase might be preferable to the more commonly applied removal of the continuous phase. For this purpose dispersed phase separators can be applied, which combine the features of conventional coalescers and membrane filtration. The membrane surface promotes coalescence ...

  17. Enzymes for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nasiri, Hamidreza

    2011-04-15

    enzymes on interactions in the oil/brine/solid system was studied. It was found that enzymes can change the adhesion behavior of the crude oil on glass surfaces from adhesion to non-adhesion when they are added to the brine solution. This was confirmed by contact angle measurements, which showed that contact angles became more water-wet (i.e. decreased) after exposure to enzyme solutions. Possible mechanisms giving rise to these observations, including catalysis of ester hydrolysis and enzyme adsorption, were discussed and tested. An experimental study of changes in oil-water interfacial properties by addition of enzymes and proteins, including measurements of interfacial tension and electrophoretic mobility, has been performed. It was found that the effect of enzymes on oil-water properties is minor compared to their effect on oil-water-solid properties. Their contribution to change interfacial tension between oil and water is not significant while they affect the electrophoretic mobility of emulsified oil in enzyme-brine solution to some extent. Attempts were also made to study changes in both oil and water phase composition after equilibration with enzymes. However, since the chemical composition of crude oil is highly complex, a model oil was used in some of the experiments. The model oil was chosen to be a water insoluble ester (ethyl decanoate) solved in mineral oil in an effort to verify the possible role of catalysis of ester hydrolysis. Dynamic core displacements using sandstone and carbonate rocks were conducted to show the potential of improved oil recovery by enzyme- and combined enzyme-surfactant flooding. Most of the core flooding experiments commenced with water flooding from initial water saturation, Swi, (established with synthetic sea water) which will be referred to as secondary mode displacements. Accordingly, tertiary oil recovery processes were used to describe injection of enzyme and/or enzyme-surfactant solutions from residual oil saturation, Sor

  18. Environmental implications of offshore oil and gas development in Australia. Part 6; Oil spills

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Volkman, J.K.; Revill, A.T.; Miller, G.J.; Connell, D.W.

    1994-01-01

    The total amount of oil spilled in Commonwealth offshore waters from offshore oil exploration and production has been estimated by the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industry and Energy to be 440 barrels (70 000 litres) to the end of 1991. When more recent spills are added, plus spills from coastal waters under State jurisdiction, it is estimated that the total of oil spilled is about 600 barrels (95 000 litres). This estimate does not include hydrocarbon inputs from discharge of formation waters or drill cuttings. Most of these spills have been very small (less than 20 barrels) and in only a very few instances has any of the oil reached the shore. In most cases, it has been possible to allow the oil to degrade and disperse naturally. Given the small quantities spilled it is highly unlikely that these oil spills have caused significant environmental damage although it must be added that few follow up studies to assess this have been carried out. This review concludes that oil spills affect marine ecosystems generally in the same way as many other forms of marine pollutants even though the degree of persistence is less than with heavy metals for example. That is, the system is modified and destabilized and in severe cases it can shift to a reduced biological diversity characteristic of early successional or pioneer stages. Adverse effects range from the short term (days to months), to decades. Two phases and/or effects are usually observed: (i) the short-term mortality phase particularly affects biota at or near the air/sea interface and is attributed to physical coating, ingestion and inhalation of high concentrations of low-boiling aromatic hydrocarbons; and (ii) the longer term effects of the weathered oil being incorporated into the sediment where it inhibits the growth of seedlings and larger plants as well as affecting infauna and epifauna. 584 refs., 49 tabs., 43 figs

  19. Development of a new separator oil/water: adaptation of a laboratory prototype envisage an industrial application; Desenvolvimento de um novo separador oleo/agua: adaptacao do prototipo de laboratorio visando aplicacao industrial

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Medeiros, Gustavo de S.; Paulo, Joao B. de A.; Costa Junior, Jose A. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil); Fernandes Junior, Wilaci E. [PETROBRAS, Natal/Fortaleza, RN/CE (Brazil). Unidade RN/CE

    2008-07-01

    The present work deals with the adaptation of a new separator oil/water called Mixer Settler based on Phase Inversion of (MDIF) in scale of laboratory for future application in industrial scale. The adaptations were carried out by changing of the materials of construction and the substitution of the original system of mechanical mixing by a static or on-line mixer. The equipment works through the unit operation of liquid-liquid extraction associated with the innovative method of phase inversion to separate the fine oil droplets which appear emulsified into produced waters. The extractant solvent was QAV (aviation kerosene). A composed central design was used to evaluate the performance of the equipment, considering the separation efficiency (%) as the response variable in function of the TOG (total oil and greases). Envisaging an industrial application we plotted contour curves to determine the regions which it is possible to operate the equipment on optimized conditions in view of separate oil at low concentrations, minimizing the quantity of extractant solvent. (author)

  20. Film self-assembly properties of vacuum residua from crude oil and correlation to the stability of water/crude oil emulsions[Supercritical fluid extraction and fractional technology (SFEF)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peng, Bo

    2005-07-01

    In this thesis, SFEF technology has been used to obtain a fine separation of vacuum residua. Three kinds of vacuum residua from Iranian Heavy Crude Oil, Iranian Light Crude Oil and Daqing Crude Oil have been separated respectively into three series narrow cut fractions as a function of the average molecular weight. And their molecular parameters have been characterized by Vapour Pressure Osmometry(VPO) system, Ultraviolet(UV) spectroscopy, Infrared(IR) spectroscopy as well as by elemental analysis. The various fractions of vacuum residua have been added to an oil/water model system. The oil phase used was pure heptane, pure toluene, a mixture of heptane and toluene etc. Various properties of the interfacial film have been studied such as the self-assembly properties, interfacial tension and interfacial viscosity, etc. The self-assembly procedure of interfacial film of vacuum residua fractions were focused by means of the Wilhelmy plate method (Paper 1). The self-assembly states of interfacial film of vacuum residua fraction from Iranian Heavy and Daqing crude oil have been revealed by using Langmuir-Blodgett technology respectively (Paper II and Paper III). From measurement of the interfacial shear viscosity, the mechanical strength of the interfacial film formed by the vacuum residua fraction has been described (Paper IV) and the roles of the surfactants added in the interfacial film have been confirmed (Paper V). At the same time, the oil/water interfacial tensions of vacuum residua fractions from the three kinds of crude oil have been studied and compared (Paper VI and Paper VII). Characteristic properties of emulsions stabilized by the vacuum residua, such as Zeta potential (Paper VIII) and particle size distribution (Paper IX), have also been studied. An attempt has been made to explain the variations of emulsion properties in terms of the interfacial self-assembly of vacuum residua fractions. Finally, based up the above research and using chemometric methods

  1. Naphtha evaporation from oil sands tailings ponds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kasperski, K.; Munoz, V.; Mikula, R. [Natural Resources Canada, Devon, AB (Canada). CANMET Western Research Centre

    2010-07-01

    The environmental impacts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from oil sands tailings ponds must be considered when evaluating new oil sands mining and extraction operations. Studies have suggested that only 40 percent of the solvent sent to tailings ponds is available to the environment, while the rest is irreversibly trapped. The recovery of hydrocarbons from oil sands froth process water is low. This PowerPoint presentation discussed a method of distinguishing between water and hydrocarbons at low temperatures. Samples were heated to 246 degrees C at 15 degrees C and held for 10 minutes. Heating was then resumed at 750 degrees C and held for 10 minutes in a pyrolysis phase, then cooled and reheated with an oxygen addition. The method demonstrated that the diluent distribution between the solids and water phases is misinterpreted as diluent that will evaporate, and diluent that will not evaporate. The study concluded by suggesting that the definition of recoverable and unrecoverable hydrocarbon should be re-termed as easily recoverable, and difficult to recover. tabs., figs.

  2. Biomechanical ordering and buckling due to microbial growth confined at oil-water interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juarez, Gabriel; Stocker, Roman

    2015-11-01

    Bacteria are unicellular organisms that often exist as densely populated, surface-associated communities. Bacteria are also environmental colloids and spontaneously attach and self-assemble at liquid-liquid interfaces. Here, we present results on the growth dynamics of individual rod-shaped bacteria confined to finite oil-water interfaces of varying curvature. Through experiments using microfluidic chambers and time-lapse microscopy, we study the formation of macroscopic structures observed as adsorbed bacteria grow, divide, and self-assemble in a nematic phase due to biomechanical interactions. The continued growth at the interface leads to a jammed monolayer of cells, which then causes the interface to buckle and undergo large deformations including wrinkling and tubulation. These observations highlight the interplay between physical environment, such as confinement and interface curvature, and active biological processes, such as growth, at the scale of individual agents and shape our understanding of macroscale processes such as microbial degradation of oil in the ocean.

  3. Emulsified industrial oils recycling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gabris, T.

    1982-04-01

    The industrial lubricant market has been analyzed with emphasis on current and/or developing recycling and re-refining technologies. This task has been performed for the United States and other industrialized countries, specifically France, West Germany, Italy and Japan. Attention has been focused at emulsion-type fluids regardless of the industrial application involved. It was found that emulsion-type fluids in the United States represent a much higher percentage of the total fluids used than in other industrialized countries. While recycling is an active matter explored by the industry, re-refining is rather a result of other issues than the mere fact that oil can be regenerated from a used industrial emulsion. To extend the longevity of an emulsion is a logical step to keep expenses down by using the emulsion as long as possible. There is, however, another important factor influencing this issue: regulations governing the disposal of such fluids. The ecological question, the respect for nature and the natural balances, is often seen now as everybody's task. Regulations forbid dumping used emulsions in the environment without prior treatment of the water phase and separation of the oil phase. This is a costly procedure, so recycling is attractive since it postpones the problem. It is questionable whether re-refining of these emulsions - as a business - could stand on its own if these emulsions did not have to be taken apart for disposal purposes. Once the emulsion is separated into a water and an oil phase, however, re-refining of the oil does become economical.

  4. Satellite and airborne oil spill remote sensing: State of the art and application to the BP DeepWater Horizon oil spill

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leifer, I.; Clark, R.; Jones, C.; Holt, B.; Svejkovsky, J.; Swayze, G.

    2011-01-01

    The vast, persistent, and unconstrained oil release from the DeepWater Horizon (DWH) challenged the spill response, which required accurate quantitative oil assessment at synoptic and operational scales. Experienced observers are the mainstay of oil spill response. Key limitations are weather, scene illumination geometry, and few trained observers, leading to potential observer bias. Aiding the response was extensive passive and active satellite and airborne remote sensing, including intelligent system augmentation, reviewed herein. Oil slick appearance strongly depends on many factors like emulsion composition and scene geometry, yielding false positives and great thickness uncertainty. Oil thicknesses and the oil to water ratios for thick slicks were derived quantitatively with a new spectral library approach based on the shape and depth of spectral features related to C-H vibration bands. The approach used near infrared, imaging spectroscopy data from the AVIRIS (Airborne Visual/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer) instrument on the NASA ER-2 stratospheric airplane. Extrapolation to the total slick used MODIS satellite visual-spectrum broadband data, which observes sunglint reflection from surface slicks; i.e., indicates the presence of oil and/or surfactant slicks. Oil slick emissivity is less than seawater's allowing MODIS thermal infrared (TIR) nighttime identification; however, water temperature variations can cause false positives. Some strong emissivity features near 6.7 and 9.7 ??m could be analyzed as for the AVIRIS short wave infrared features, but require high spectral resolution data. TIR spectral trends can allow fresh/weathered oil discrimination. Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SSAR) provided synoptic data under all-sky conditions by observing oil dampening of capillary waves; however, SSAR typically cannot discriminate thick from thin oil slicks. Airborne UAVSAR's significantly greater signal-to-noise ratio and fine spatial resolution allowed

  5. Recovery of oil from oil-in-water emulsion using biopolymers by adsorptive method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elanchezhiyan, S Sd; Sivasurian, N; Meenakshi, Sankaran

    2014-09-01

    In the present study, it is aimed to identify, a low cost sorbent for the recovery of oil from oil-in-water emulsion using biopolymers such as chitin and chitosan. Chitin has the greater adsorption capacity than chitosan due to its hydrophobic nature. The characterizations of chitin and chitosan were done using FTIR, SEM, EDAX, XRD, TGA and DSC techniques. Under batch equilibrium mode, a systematic study was performed to optimize the various equilibrium parameters viz., contact time, pH, dosage, initial concentration of oil, and temperature. The adsorption process reached equilibrium at 40 min of contact time and the percentage removal of oil was found to be higher (90%) in the acidic medium. The Freundlich and Langmuir models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms and the isotherm constants were calculated. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° were calculated to find out the nature of the sorption mechanism. The kinetic studies were investigated with reaction-based and diffusion-based models. The suitable mechanism for the removal of oil has been established. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Microfluidic methods to assess demulsification kinetics for oil-water-separation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krebs, T.; Schroën, C.G.P.H.; Boom, R.M.

    2012-01-01

    The control of emulsion stability is of crucial importance in the process of crude/oil water separation, which is a key step in industrial oil production. Separation is enhanced if coalescence between droplets takes place, the extent of which will depend on the flow parameters as well as on the

  7. Effective preparation of magnetic superhydrophobic Fe3O4/PU sponge for oil-water separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zeng-Tian; Lin, Bo; Jiang, Li-Wang; Lin, En-Chao; Chen, Jian; Zhang, Shi-Jie; Tang, Yi-Wen; He, Fu-An; Li, De-Hao

    2018-01-01

    Fe3O4 nanoparticles were modified by tetraethoxysilane and different amounts of trimethoxy (1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl) silane in sequence to obtain the magnetic nanoparticles with low surface energy, which could be used to construct the superhydrophobic surfaces for PU sponge, cotton fabric, and filter paper by a simple drop-coating method. Particularly, all the resultant Fe3O4/PU sponges containing different fluoroalkylsilane-modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles possessed both high water repellency with contact angle in the range of 150.2-154.7° and good oil affinity, which could not only effectively remove oil from water followed by convenient magnetic recovery but also easily realize the oil-water separation as a filter only driven by gravity. The Fe3O4/PU sponges showed high absorption capability of peanut oil, pump oil, and silicone oil with the maximum absorptive capacities of 40.3, 39.3, and 46.3 g/g, respectively. Such novel sponges might be a potential candidate for oil-water separation as well as oil absorption and transportation accompanied by the advantages of simple process, remote control by magnetic field, and low energy consumption.

  8. Remote methods of indicating oil products in natural waters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shlyakhova, L A

    1981-01-01

    A survey is made of domestic and foreign publications covering remote methods of monitoring film petroleum products and oil in natural waters. The given methods are realized in practice with the use of different sections of the electromagnetic spectrum. Remote quality control of the natural waters at the modern level may be an indicator of water pollution with film petroleum products.

  9. Fine Formation During Brine-Crude Oil-Calcite Interaction in Smart Water Enhanced Oil Recovery for Caspian Carbonates

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chakravarty, Krishna Hara; Fosbøl, Philip Loldrup; Thomsen, Kaj

    2015-01-01

    Modified sea water has been shown to affect the oil recovery fraction considerably during secondary and tertiary waterfloods. Available soluble potential ions (i.e. Ca2+, Mg2+ & SO42-) in the interacting waterflood (ITW) are suggested to play a key role in increasing the displacement efficiency...... of oil. In previous studies, compositions of injected waterfloods (IJW) have been correlated to the observed oil recovery. This study highlights differences between IJW and ITW for different studies reported in literature....

  10. Natural Sunlight Shapes Crude Oil-Degrading Bacterial Communities in Northern Gulf of Mexico Surface Waters

    OpenAIRE

    Bacosa, Hernando P.; Liu, Zhanfei; Erdner, Deana L.

    2015-01-01

    Following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill in 2010, an enormous amount of oil was observed in the deep and surface waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Surface waters are characterized by intense sunlight and high temperature during summer. While the oil-degrading bacterial communities in the deep-sea plume have been widely investigated, the effect of natural sunlight on those in oil polluted surface waters remains unexplored to date. In this study, we incubated surface water from the DWH ...

  11. Integrated oil sands tailings pond water treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guo, Z. [Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, SK (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed research currently being conducted to treat oil sands tailings pond water (TPW). The treatment of TPW is challenged by the high level of naphthenic acids (NAs), the slow settling rate of fine particulate materials, and the complex chemistry of the water. The treatment process consisted of bioflocculation, sludge blanket assisted clarification, ozonation, and oil sands coke assisted hybrid biodegradation. The aggregation and adsorption process bound small particles and cells together while also ensuring the passive uptake of pollutants using microbial masses. The mixed liquor then passed through a sludge blanket to ensure enhanced particle capture. An ozonation process was used to increase the biodegradability of the TPW as well as to increase the biodegradability of the residual NAs after ozonation. The process used a hybrid bioreactor that consisted of both suspended and fixed microbial communities. The coke served as a biofilm carrier for the waste. Further studies are being conducted to investigate the efficiency and capability of the process. tabs., figs.

  12. Effect of cold water injection on operation of and oil production from formations of Romashkino field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mingareev, R Sh; Vakhitov, G G; Sultanov, S A

    1968-11-01

    Each year about 130 million cu m of cold water are injected into this field. Since cold water can lower reservoir temperature, increase oil viscosity, deposit paraffin in the formation, and reduce oil recovery, a thermal survey of this field was conducted. The survey showed that the average reservoir temperature was not reduced by cold-water injection for 15 yr. However, local cooling was observed at distances less than 400 m from the water injection well. Through these wells more than 4 PV of water have passed. The thermal front lags 1,500 m behind the advancing water front. For this reason, cold-water injection does not reduce oil recovery where there is uniform advance of the floodwater. When the formation is heterogeneous so that water advances more rapidly in high-permeability sand than in adjoining low-permeability sand, then the cooling effect can reduce oil recovery. For this reason, it is advisable to force water into the entire interval of the oil formation. An isotherm map of the Romashkino field is shown.

  13. Designing dual phase sensing materials from polyaniline filled styrene–isoprene–styrene composites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadasivuni, Kishor Kumar; Ponnamma, Deepalekshmi; Kasak, Peter; Krupa, Igor; Ali S A Al-Maadeed, Mariam

    2014-01-01

    The demand for developing oil detectors is ever increasing since the cleanup and recovery from oil spill usually take long time. Here we propose oil sensors made of polyaniline (PANI) filled poly(styrene–isoprene–styrene) (SIS) block copolymer composite films with good uniformity and dispersion. The changes in resistivity of the samples in presence of both oil and water media reveal the good sensing ability of SIS–PANI films towards oil in water (dual phase). The morphology and chemical composition of the developed products are characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy. Swelling studies are performed to correlate the sensing response to the structural variations and based on it a mechanism is derived for the dual phase sensing. Contact angle measurements confirm the behavior further. The thermal properties and crystallinity of the composites are also addressed by the thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric studies. The developed oil sensor material is able to withstand extreme temperature condition as well. - Highlights: • We model a dual phase sensor capable of detecting oil in water. • A mechanism is proposed to correlate sensing with diffusion. • In situ polymerization helps in the uniform distribution of filler. • Polymer composite sensor could be used as stickers on oil pipelines

  14. Designing dual phase sensing materials from polyaniline filled styrene–isoprene–styrene composites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sadasivuni, Kishor Kumar, E-mail: kishor_kumars@yahoo.com [Centre for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, Doha (Qatar); Ponnamma, Deepalekshmi [School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam 686560, Kerala (India); Kasak, Peter; Krupa, Igor; Ali S A Al-Maadeed, Mariam [Centre for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, Doha (Qatar)

    2014-10-15

    The demand for developing oil detectors is ever increasing since the cleanup and recovery from oil spill usually take long time. Here we propose oil sensors made of polyaniline (PANI) filled poly(styrene–isoprene–styrene) (SIS) block copolymer composite films with good uniformity and dispersion. The changes in resistivity of the samples in presence of both oil and water media reveal the good sensing ability of SIS–PANI films towards oil in water (dual phase). The morphology and chemical composition of the developed products are characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy. Swelling studies are performed to correlate the sensing response to the structural variations and based on it a mechanism is derived for the dual phase sensing. Contact angle measurements confirm the behavior further. The thermal properties and crystallinity of the composites are also addressed by the thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric studies. The developed oil sensor material is able to withstand extreme temperature condition as well. - Highlights: • We model a dual phase sensor capable of detecting oil in water. • A mechanism is proposed to correlate sensing with diffusion. • In situ polymerization helps in the uniform distribution of filler. • Polymer composite sensor could be used as stickers on oil pipelines.

  15. Need For Coastal Water Management Tool For Oil Spill Simulation In Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Uba

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Ghanaian water bodies have been under threats recently ranging from illegal mining sand winning reclamation of water bodies for the purposes of human settlement pollution etc. Civil and mechanical installations on the coastal waters have increase due to the discovery of oil recently and such situations are not spared by oil spills. Oil spills are an inevitable consequence of the need to produce store and transport oil. The commercialization of oil production has placed Ghana among High-Risk Zones which are characterised by high traffic density and the presence of navigational hazards. Despite Ghanas awareness about oil spill accidents in both preparedness and response it is likely it will be compromised when any accident occurs as it has more pressing demands on finite funds and resources. This situation might place Ghana among ill-prepared countries against oil spill combat. An important part of contingency plan is the prediction of locations that are susceptible to oil after spillage. This can be done by the use of satellite information reviewing and comparing previous incidents laboratory work or by fine tuning models which as of now the country is not having despite all the precautions to prevent oil spills. When spill models are used properly they provide ecological economic and social benefits. Hence the need for such decision-making tool for Ghana to create an environment for the contingency plans to be tested validated and upgraded. Such exercises not only maintain and increase the skills of the response personnel but also lead to improvements and fine tuning of the plan as weaknesses and gaps are identified.

  16. Characterization and Alteration of Wettability States of Alaskan Reserviors to Improve Oil Recovery Efficiency (including the within-scope expansion based on Cyclic Water Injection - a pulsed waterflood for Enhanced Oil Recovery)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abhijit Dandekar; Shirish Patil; Santanu Khataniar

    2008-12-31

    Numerous early reports on experimental works relating to the role of wettability in various aspects of oil recovery have been published. Early examples of laboratory waterfloods show oil recovery increasing with increasing water-wetness. This result is consistent with the intuitive notion that strong wetting preference of the rock for water and associated strong capillary-imbibition forces gives the most efficient oil displacement. This report examines the effect of wettability on waterflooding and gasflooding processes respectively. Waterflood oil recoveries were examined for the dual cases of uniform and non-uniform wetting conditions. Based on the results of the literature review on effect of wettability and oil recovery, coreflooding experiments were designed to examine the effect of changing water chemistry (salinity) on residual oil saturation. Numerous corefloods were conducted on reservoir rock material from representative formations on the Alaska North Slope (ANS). The corefloods consisted of injecting water (reservoir water and ultra low-salinity ANS lake water) of different salinities in secondary as well as tertiary mode. Additionally, complete reservoir condition corefloods were also conducted using live oil. In all the tests, wettability indices, residual oil saturation, and oil recovery were measured. All results consistently lead to one conclusion; that is, a decrease in injection water salinity causes a reduction in residual oil saturation and a slight increase in water-wetness, both of which are comparable with literature observations. These observations have an intuitive appeal in that water easily imbibes into the core and displaces oil. Therefore, low-salinity waterfloods have the potential for improved oil recovery in the secondary recovery process, and ultra low-salinity ANS lake water is an attractive source of injection water or a source for diluting the high-salinity reservoir water. As part of the within-scope expansion of this project

  17. Directed weighted network structure analysis of complex impedance measurements for characterizing oil-in-water bubbly flow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Zhong-Ke; Dang, Wei-Dong; Xue, Le; Zhang, Shan-Shan

    2017-03-01

    Characterizing the flow structure underlying the evolution of oil-in-water bubbly flow remains a contemporary challenge of great interests and complexity. In particular, the oil droplets dispersing in a water continuum with diverse size make the study of oil-in-water bubbly flow really difficult. To study this issue, we first design a novel complex impedance sensor and systematically conduct vertical oil-water flow experiments. Based on the multivariate complex impedance measurements, we define modalities associated with the spatial transient flow structures and construct modality transition-based network for each flow condition to study the evolution of flow structures. In order to reveal the unique flow structures underlying the oil-in-water bubbly flow, we filter the inferred modality transition-based network by removing the edges with small weight and resulting isolated nodes. Then, the weighted clustering coefficient entropy and weighted average path length are employed for quantitatively assessing the original network and filtered network. The differences in network measures enable to efficiently characterize the evolution of the oil-in-water bubbly flow structures.

  18. The new oil : water, its use, reuse and conservation has become almost as important to Alberta's economic future as oil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collison, M.

    2009-03-15

    This article addressed concerns about water use in Alberta's oil sand industry and the need to effectively manage it. Companies such as Suncor, Syncrude Canada, Imperial Oil, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Petro-Canada, Nexen, Devon Energy and ConocoPhillips have improved water-use efficiency and reduced absolute water use significantly in recent years. A large percentage of the water produced from bitumen processing is recycled. In addition, saline groundwater not suitable for human or agricultural use has been pumped from deep aquifers to use in place of fresh water. The new Water and Environmental Science Research Facility at the University of Lethbridge, demonstrates just how prominent an issue water has become. Nexen Inc. is funding a Fellowship for Water Research at the new Lethbridge centre. A research team at the department of chemical and petroleum engineering at the Schulich School of Engineering is developing new ways to clean up produced water to such a purity that it can be used in oil and gas operations or used for irrigation. The standard of purity for oil production processes is higher than it is for irrigation because salts and silicon in water cause corrosion problems in metal equipment such as steam boilers. Ultrafiltration is being tested as an option to treat the produced water. To purify the produced water without the added cost of using pressure, the research team is enhancing the filtering process by adding a surfactant, a surface-active agent or detergent. 1 fig.

  19. Some observations on the pre-boilover burning of a slick of oil on water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garo, J.P.; Vantelon, J.P.; Gandhi, S.; Torero, J.L.

    1996-01-01

    The effects of burning oil in water were investigated to establish a systematic methodology for ignition of oil-spills. A simple heat conduction model was used to describe the pre-boil over burning rate of crude oil and heating oil. Results from the model were compared with experimental pool burning test results. The calculations agreed well with experiments conducted with crude oil and heating oil. Theoretical expressions were also successfully correlated with emulsified and weathered crude. The parameters considered for the calculations included the fuel layer thickness, the weathering level and the percentage of water emulsified in the fuel. The model accurately described the regression rate for fuel layers thicker than 8 mm. 22 refs., 1 tab., 13 figs

  20. Design and operation problems related to water curtain system for underground water-sealed oil storage caverns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhongkui Li

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The underground water-sealed storage technique is critically important and generally accepted for the national energy strategy in China. Although several small underground water-sealed oil storage caverns have been built in China since the 1970s, there is still a lack of experience for large-volume underground storage in complicated geological conditions. The current design concept of water curtain system and the technical instruction for system operation have limitations in maintaining the stability of surrounding rock mass during the construction of the main storage caverns, as well as the long-term stability. Although several large-scale underground oil storage projects are under construction at present in China, the design concepts and construction methods, especially for the water curtain system, are mainly based on the ideal porosity medium flow theory and the experiences gained from the similar projects overseas. The storage projects currently constructed in China have the specific features such as huge scale, large depth, multiple-level arrangement, high seepage pressure, complicated geological conditions, and high in situ stresses, which are the challenging issues for the stability of the storage caverns. Based on years' experiences obtained from the first large-scale (millions of cubic meters underground water-sealed oil storage project in China, some design and operation problems related to water curtain system during project construction are discussed. The drawbacks and merits of the water curtain system are also presented. As an example, the conventional concept of “filling joints with water” is widely used in many cases, as a basic concept for the design of the water curtain system, but it is immature. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the conventional concept are pointed out, with respect to the long-term stability as well as the safety of construction of storage caverns. Finally, new concepts and principles

  1. A facile method for emulsified oil-water separation by using polyethylenimine-coated magnetic nanoparticles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lü, Ting; Qi, Dongming; Zhang, Dong; Lü, Yulan; Zhao, Hongting

    2018-04-01

    Oil spills and oily wastewater discharges from ships and industrial activities have serious impacts on the environment and human health. In this study, a class of easy-to-synthesize polyethylenimine (PEI)-coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) was successfully synthesized via a one-step coprecipitation method. The synthesized PEI-coated Fe3O4 MNPs were characterized by using multiple technologies and applied in emulsified oil-water separation for the first time. It was found that the PEI effectively tuned the surface charge and wettability of MNPs. As a result, the PEI-coated MNPs could successfully assemble at the oil-water interface and promote the coalescence of oil droplets, thereby facilitating the subsequent magnetic separation. Results showed that the oil-water separation performance was superior and enhanced with the increase of ionic strength. Recycling experiment indicated that the PEI-coated MNPs could be reused up to six times without showing a significant decrease in separation efficiency. All of these results suggested that the PEI-coated MNP could potentially be used as a class of promising nanomaterials for emulsified oil-water separation. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

  2. The use of microemulsion and flushing solutions to remediate diesel-polluted oil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dnatas, T.N.C.; Moura, M.C.P.A.; Dants Neto, A.A; Pinheiro, F.S.H.T.; Barros Neto, E.L. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Quimica], E-mail: carlenise@eq.ufrn.br

    2007-07-15

    The applicability of a surfactant derived from coconut oil (saponified coconut oil - SCO) to remove diesel oil from contaminated soil was investigated. This surfactant was applied in aqueous solutions and in a microemulsion precursory solution (surfactant/cosurfactant/water). Bench-scale tests were carried out using both column and batch setups with artificially contaminated soil. Parameters tested, that have influence in microemulsion formation, include: cosurfactant nature, cosurfactant/surfactant ratio (C/S), and presence or absence of an electrolyte in the aqueous phase (NaCl). Upon construction of pseudo ternary phase diagrams it was observed that increasing C/S ratio and presence of electrolyte cause a reduction in the microemulsion region. Five washing solutions were tested: distilled water, distilled water with 0.5 wt.% NaCl, surfactant solution (0.5 wt.% SCO - above critical micelle concentration - CMC), and a microemulsion precursory solution with and without NaCl in its aqueous phase. It was observed that the formation of diesel-in-oil microemulsion makes easy the removal of contaminants from the used soil. It was found that in batch experiments a 74% contaminant removal can be achieved and in column experiments up to 75% diesel oil could be removed, showing the potential applicability of this surfactant in microemulsion systems for cleaning up contaminated sandy soils. (author)

  3. Effects of oil-water mixed frying and pure-oil frying on the quality characteristics of soybean oil and chicken chop

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruixue MA

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The effects of oil-water mixed frying (OWF and pure-oil frying (POF on changes in quality characteristics of soybean oil and chicken chop during six days of frying were comparatively investigated. The results showed that the changes in specific extinction coefficients, p-anisidine value, carbonyl value, viscosity and color of soybean oil were more pronounced in the case of POF, indicating that oil oxidative and polymeric degradation was retarded by OWF. Concerning fat content of chicken chop, lower (p<0.05 values were observed in the last three days in the case of OWF than POF. Meanwhile, OWF led to lower acrylamide formation in chops during the six days. Sensory evaluation showed that OWF provided chops with five attributes similar to those of chops fried by POF on the first day. As frying days increased, the decreases in scores for color, odor, flavor and overall acceptability were less in the case of OWF. In conclusion, OWF could be a worthwhile alternative for retarding oil deterioration and producing healthier and higher quality fried meat products.

  4. Durable underwater superoleophobic PDDA/halloysite nanotubes decorated stainless steel mesh for efficient oil-water separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Kun; Zeng, Yicheng; Zhou, Cailong; Chen, Jiahui; Wen, Xiufang; Xu, Shouping; Cheng, Jiang; Lin, Yingguang; Pi, Pihui

    2017-09-01

    A durable underwater superoleophobic mesh was conveniently prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) on a stainless steel mesh. The hierarchical structure and roughness of the PDDA/HNTs coating surface were controlled by adjusting the number of layer deposition cycles. When the PDDA/HNTs coating with 10 deposition cycles was decorated on the mesh with pore size of about 54 μm, the underwater superoleophobic mesh was obtained. The as-prepared underwater superoleophobic PDDA/HNTs decorated mesh exhibits outstanding oil-water separation performance with a separation efficiency of over 97% for various oil/water mixtures, which allowed water to pass through while repelled oil completely. In addition, the as-prepared decorated mesh still maintained high separation efficiency above 97% after repeated 20 separation times for hexane/water mixture or chloroform/water mixture. More importantly, the as-prepared decorated mesh is durable enough to resist chemical and mechanical challenges, such as strong alkaline, salt aqueous and sand abrasion. Therefore, the as-prepared decorated mesh has practical utility in oil-water separation due to its stable oil-water performance, remarkable chemical and mechanical durability and the facile and eco-friendly preparation process.

  5. Storm water permitting for oil and gas facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    de Blanc, P.C.

    1991-01-01

    After several false starts, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published new federal storm water regulations in the November 16, 1990 Federal Register. These regulations identify facilities which must apply for a storm water permit and detail permit application requirements. The regulations appear at 40 CFR 122 Subpart B and became effective December 17, 1990. An outline of these regulations and their applicability to oil and gas facilities is presented. They are: facilities which require a storm water permit; types of storm water permits; permit application deadlines; permit application forms; facilities with existing storm water permits; storm water permit application data requirements; storm water sampling and analysis requirements; and EPA contacts for additional information

  6. Environmental contaminants in oil field produced waters discharged into wetlands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramirez, P. Jr.

    1994-01-01

    The 866-acre Loch Katrine wetland complex in Park County, Wyoming provides habitat for many species of aquatic birds. The complex is sustained primarily by oil field produced waters. This study was designed to determine if constituents in oil field produced waters discharged into Custer Lake and to Loch Katrine pose a risk to aquatic birds inhabiting the wetlands. Trace elements, hydrocarbons and radium-226 concentrations were analyzed in water, sediment and biota collected from the complex during 1992. Arsenic, boron, radium-226 and zinc were elevated in some matrices. The presence of radium-226 in aquatic vegetation suggests that this radionuclide is available to aquatic birds. Oil and grease concentrations in water from the produced water discharge exceeded the maximum 10 mg/l permitted by the WDEQ (1990). Total aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in sediments were highest at the produced water discharge, 6.376 μg/g, followed by Custer Lake, 1.104 μg/g. The higher levels of hydrocarbons found at Custer Lake, compared to Loch Katrine, may be explained by Custer Lake's closer proximity to the discharge. Benzo(a)pyrene was not detected in bile from gadwalls collected at Loch Katrine but was detected in bile from northern shovelers collected at Custer Lake. Benzo(a)pyrene concentrations in northern shoveler bile ranged from 500 to 960 ng/g (ppb) wet weight. The presence of benzo(a)pyrene in the shovelers indicates exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons

  7. Environmental aspect of oil and water-based drilling muds and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Administrator

    2010-03-19

    Mar 19, 2010 ... both oil based and water-based drilling wastes collected from the same depth were analyzed for metals. (iron, copper ... include well cuttings, drilling muds, formation water, cement slurry ..... in the drill wastes (2.38 mg/kg) (Figure 3d). The water .... Organization, International Programme on Chemical Safety.

  8. Using environmental chemistry technologies for the removal of arsenic from drinking water, and fat and oil based phase change materials for thermal energy storage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutterlin, William R.

    The first four chapters of this dissertation involve the removal of arsenic from drinking water. Various forms of a macroporous char prepared by partial gasification of subbituminous coal were studied for removal of arsenic(V) and arsenic(III) from water. In increasing order of effectiveness for arsenic(V) removal were untreated char water containing 500 micrograms/L of arsenic to levels below 10 micrograms/L. The capacity of the solid to remove arsenic was significantly diminished in water containing 4 mg/L of phosphate. An electrical current passed over 4 g of iron(III) oxide char in a column enabled removal of arsenic(III) from 14,000 mL of 500 micrograms/L arsenic(III) to below 10 micrograms/liter and at significantly higher flow rates than could be employed without electrolysis. The fifth chapter in this dissertation focused on the retention of organics onto a char/concrete pellet. A mixture of naphthalene, pentachlorophenol, biphenyl, toluene, tetrachloroethane, and chlorobenzene were impregnated into a loose granular char, a char/concrete pellet and a sand/concrete pellet. The results showed that the char/concrete pellet had significant advantages over the other forms. Chapters 6--9 focus on phase change materials (PCMs). These PCMs are made from fats and oils. PCMs are perhaps the only proven method that can provide near 100% thermal energy storage. In chapter 7 a novel HPLC method was developed that could provide quantification and qualification of the resulting products formed after PCM synthesis. In chapter 8 thermal cycling studies were conducted on the fat and oil based PCMs. These thermal cycle demonstrated that these PCMs were capable of going through a multitude of freeze and melt processes with little to no degradation if the appropriate preservative is used. Finally in chapter 9 the PCM is incorporated into a simulated 100 th scale house. A traditional freon based evaporator is used to freeze the PCM at night during electrical-off-peak hours

  9. Green technological approach to synthesis hydrophobic stable crystalline calcite particles with one-pot synthesis for oil-water separation during oil spill cleanup.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Min-Nan; Maity, Jyoti Prakash; Bundschuh, Jochen; Li, Che-Feng; Lee, Chin-Rong; Hsu, Chun-Mei; Lee, Wen-Chien; Huang, Chung-Ho; Chen, Chien-Yen

    2017-10-15

    The process of separating oil and water from oil/water mixtures is an attractive strategy to answer the menace caused by industrial oil spills and oily wastewater. In addition, water coproduced during hydrocarbon exploitation, which can be an economic burden and risk for freshwater resources, can become an important freshwater source after suitable water-oil separation. For oil-water separation purposes, considerable attention has been paid to the preparation of hydrophobic-oleophilic materials with modified surface roughness. However, due to issues of thermodynamic instability, costly and complex methods as well as lack of ecofriendly compounds, most of hydrophobic surface modified particles are of limited practical application. The study presents a facile procedure, to synthesize crystalline particles of calcite, which is the most stable polymorph of CaCO 3 from industrial CaCO 3 using oleic acid as an additive in a one-pot synthesis method. The XRD results show that the synthesized particles were a well-crystallized form of calcite. The FTIR results reflect the appearance of the alkyl groups from the oleic acid in synthesized particles which promotes the production of calcite with 'rice shape' (1.64 μm) (aggregated by spherical nanoparticle of 19.56 nm) morphology with concomitant changes in its surface wettability from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. The synthesized particles exhibited near to super hydrophobicity with ∼99% active ratio and a contact angle of 143.8°. The synthesized hydrophobic calcite particles had an oleophilic nature where waste diesel oil adsorption capacity of synthesized calcium carbonate (HCF) showed a very high (>99%) and fast (7 s) oil removal from oil-water mixture. The functional group of long alkyl chain including of CO bounds may play critical roles for adsorption of diesel oils. Moreover, the thermodynamically stable crystalline polymorph calcite (compared to vaterite) exhibited excellent recyclability. The isothermal study

  10. Oil sands tailings leachability and toxicity evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gulley, J.R.

    1995-01-01

    Fine tailings disposal and reclamation is a major issue facing the oil sands mining and extraction industry. Government regulations dictate that reclamation must return the site to a level of self-sustaining biological capability which approximates the natural condition. A two-phase laboratory program has been completed to investigate the suitability of alternative reclamation materials. For the first phase of the study, chemical and toxicological analyses were carried out on 13 different reclamation and reference materials (solid phase and extractions). Seedling emergence, nematode maturation, algal growth and bacterial luminescence for leachate samples showed a range of sensitivities in response to the tested materials, although phytotoxicity tests were generally the most sensitive. With the exception of one test material, high toxicity ratings were consistent with that expected from the chemical data. The second phase of the study focused on the evaluation of chemical and toxicological conditions in leachate water generated using bench-scale column percolation tests. Leachate water equivalent to 10 pore volume replacements was generated and temporal variations in toxicity and chemistry monitored. Similar to phase 1 findings, phytotoxicity tests were the most sensitive tests to leachate waters. For most materials tested, most toxicity was removed after 2--3 porewater replacements. More persistent toxicity was noted for samples containing bitumen (e.g., fine tails and oil sands). No clear correspondence was noted between chemical concentrations and toxicity in leachate waters

  11. Cellulose acetate-based SiO2/TiO2 hybrid microsphere composite aerogel films for water-in-oil emulsion separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xue; Ma, Jianjun; Ling, Jing; Li, Na; Wang, Di; Yue, Fan; Xu, Shimei

    2018-03-01

    The cellulose acetate (CA)/SiO2-TiO2 hybrid microsphere composite aerogel films were successfully fabricated via water vapor-induced phase inversion of CA solution and simultaneous hydrolysis/condensation of 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) and tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) at room temperature. Micro-nano hierarchical structure was constructed on the surface of the film. The film could separate nano-sized surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions only under gravity. The flux of the film for the emulsion separation was up to 667 L m-2 h-1, while the separation efficiency was up to 99.99 wt%. Meanwhile, the film exhibited excellent stability during multiple cycles. Moreover, the film performed excellent photo-degradation performance under UV light due to the photocatalytic ability of TiO2. Facile preparation, good separation and potential biodegradation maked the CA/SiO2-TiO2 hybrid microsphere composite aerogel films a candidate in oil/water separation application.

  12. NUTRIENT CONTENT IN SUNFLOWERS IRRIGATED WITH OIL EXPLORATION WATER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ADERVAN FERNANDES SOUSA

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Irrigation using produced water, which is generated during crude oil and gas recovery and treated by the exploration industry, could be an option for irrigated agriculture in semiarid regions. To determine the viability of this option, the effects of this treated water on the nutritional status of plants should be assessed. For this purpose, we examined the nutritional changes in sunflowers after they were irrigated with oil - produced water and the effects of this water on plant biomass and seed production. The sunflower cultivar BRS 321 was grown for three crop cycles in areas irrigated with filtered produced water (FPW, reverse osmosis - treated produced water (OPW, or ground water (GW. At the end of each cycle, roots, shoots, and seeds were collected to examine their nutrient concentrations. Produced water irrigation affected nutrient accumulation in the sunflower plants. OPW irrigation promoted the accumulation of Ca, Na, N, P, and Mg. FPW irrigation favored the accumulation of Na in both roots and shoots, and biomass and seed production were negatively affected. The Na in the shoots of plants irrigated with FPW increased throughout the three crop cycles. Under controlled conditions, it is possible to reuse reverse osmosis - treated produced water in agriculture. However, more long - term research is needed to understand its cumulative effects on the chemical and biological properties of the soil and crop production.

  13. Process water treatment in Canada's oil sands industry : 2 : a review of emerging technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Allen, E.W.

    2008-01-01

    This review was conducted to identify candidate treatment technologies for treating oil sands process water. The oil sands industry in Canada uses large volumes of fresh water in order to extract bitumen deposits. The development of process water treatment technologies has become a critical issue for the industry, particularly as oil sand production is expected to triple in the next decade. However, treatment technologies must be adapted to consider the fouling potential of bitumens and fine clays as well as the effect of alkaline process water on treatment performance. The review included developments in chemical modifications to membranes and adsorbents designed to improve pollutant removal and reduce fouling; hybridization technologies designed to enhance the biological treatment of toxic feedwaters; recent advances in photocatalytic oxidation technologies for organic compounds; and new designs for large-scale treatment wetlands for polluted waste waters. It was concluded that major knowledge gaps must be optimized and preliminary studies must be conducted in order to understand how the treatment technologies will be affected by the chemical and physical characteristics of oil sands process water. 188 refs., 8 tabs

  14. Method for the production of solid hydroxides contained in mineral oils, mineral oil-like materials or mineral oil-containing materials and uses of products thus obtained. Verfahren zur Herstellung von Mineraloele, mineraloelaehnliche Stoffe oder mineraloelhaltige Stoffe enthaltenden festen Hydroxiden sowie die Verwendung danach erhaltener Produkte

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boelsing, F

    1975-07-29

    A method has been developed which permits mineral oils, mineral oil-like substances or mineral oil-containing substances (eg waste oil) to be separated in powder form, even when these substance are present in a continuous phase with water (for example, oil slurries). A compound (eg. line) which forms a hydroxide with water is added, the formed hydroxide then acts as carrier substance. Prerequisite for obtaining the end-product in powdered form is that the homogeneous mixing of the oil-containing substance and hydroxide-forming substance takes place at a faster rate than the necessary auxilliary reaction, namely hydroxide formation, and further that water in present in at least stoichiometric quantities. The powdered end-product finds numerous applications eg. road construction, soil conditioning and compacting, recultivation measures in cement manufacture, and others.

  15. Advanced Membrane Filtration Technology for Cost Effective Recovery of Fresh Water from Oil & Gas Produced Brine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    David B. Burnett

    2004-09-29

    Produced water is a major waste generated at the oil and natural gas wells in the state of Texas. This water could be a possible source of new fresh water to meet the growing demands of the state after treatment and purification. Treatment of brine generated in oil fields or produced water with an ultrafiltration membranes were the subject of this thesis. The characterization of ultrafiltration membranes for oil and suspended solids removal of produced water, coupled with the reverse osmosis (RO) desalination of brine were studied on lab size membrane testing equipment and a field size testing unit to test whether a viable membrane system could be used to treat produced water. Oil and suspended solids were evaluated using turbidity and oil in water measurements taken periodically. The research considered the effect of pressure and flow rate on membrane performance of produced water treatment of three commercially available membranes for oily water. The study also analyzed the flux through the membrane and any effect it had on membrane performance. The research showed that an ultrafiltration membrane provided turbidity removal of over 99% and oil removal of 78% for the produced water samples. The results indicated that the ultrafiltration membranes would be asset as one of the first steps in purifying the water. Further results on selected RO membranes showed that salt rejection of greater than 97% could be achieved with satisfactory flux and at reasonable operating cost.

  16. A review on risk assessment techniques for hydraulic fracturing water and produced water management implemented in onshore unconventional oil and gas production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torres, Luisa; Yadav, Om Prakash; Khan, Eakalak

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to review different risk assessment techniques applicable to onshore unconventional oil and gas production to determine the risks to water quantity and quality associated with hydraulic fracturing and produced water management. Water resources could be at risk without proper management of water, chemicals, and produced water. Previous risk assessments in the oil and gas industry were performed from an engineering perspective leaving aside important social factors. Different risk assessment methods and techniques are reviewed and summarized to select the most appropriate one to perform a holistic and integrated analysis of risks at every stage of the water life cycle. Constraints to performing risk assessment are identified including gaps in databases, which require more advanced techniques such as modeling. Discussions on each risk associated with water and produced water management, mitigation strategies, and future research direction are presented. Further research on risks in onshore unconventional oil and gas will benefit not only the U.S. but also other countries with shale oil and gas resources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Application of porous materials in oil substances separation from water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gołub, Adam; Piekutin, Janina

    2017-11-01

    The aim of the study was to determine the ability of the four porous materials: birch bark, cork, glass wool, and polyurethane foam to reduce the mineral oil index and the concentration of n-alkanes C7H16-C38H78 as well as to select the most efficient materials. Model solutions of gasoline, diesel oil, and distilled water with the following values of mineral oil index were prepared to tests: 52 μg/dm3, 68 μg/dm3 and 73 μg/dm3. Then, studies were carried out using a dynamic method, wherein the columns were filled with adsorbents tested, and in each of three testing series, 500 mL of the model solution at constant bed load of 1,0551 m3/m2h was filtered through the column. After filtration, the collected sample had volume of 250 mL. The collected samples were subject to determination of mineral oil index and concentrations of n-alkanes from C7H16 to C38H78. Studies have shown that the most effective materials to lower the mineral oil index and the concentrations of n-alkanes in water are birch bark and glass wool.

  18. Molecular dynamics simulations of radon accumulation in water and oil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pafong, Elvira; Drossel, Barbara [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    Radon is a radioactive gas that can enter the human body from air or from ground water. Radon can accumulate to levels that considerably rise the risk of lung cancer while it is also known as a a treatment of various ailments, most notably rheumatoid arthritis. The accumulation of radon differs between tissues, with particularly high concentrations in fatty cells. In order to understand the mechanisms responsible for the different solubility of radon in water and fat, we perform molecular dynamics simulations of radon gas at ambient conditions in contact with a bulk material consisting either of water or oil. We evaluate the diffusion coefficient of radon in both media as well as the equilibrium concentration. The crucial point here is to understand the hydrophobic interaction between water and radon as compared to the dispersive interaction between radon and oil. Therefore, we artificially vary the water charges (i.e., the hydrophobicity) as well as the parameters of the van-der-Waals interaction.

  19. Two-phase reactive mass transfer of an oil-soluble chemical in porous media : A CT-scan study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elewaut, K.

    2009-01-01

    Water production is a growing problem within the oil industry, as oil and gas fields mature worldwide and water breakthrough becomes more and more common. Often water production leads to reduction in productivity and reduction of the ultimate hydrocarbon recovery from a field. The challenges we face

  20. NORSE2015 - A Focused Experiment On Oil Emulsion Characterization Using PolSAR During the 2015 Norwegian Oil-On-Water Exercise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt, B.; Jones, C. E.; Brekke, C.; Breivik, O.; Skrunes, S.; Espeseth, M.

    2016-02-01

    A targeted experiment in characterizing the properties and development of mineral oil slicks was undertaken by NASA, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute during the 2015 Norwegian oil-on-water spill exercise in the North Sea (OPV2015). NORSE2015 (Norwegian Radar oil Spill Experiment) involved controlled release of plant oil and mineral emulsions of three different oil-to-water ratios, imaging of the slicks with satellite-borne synthetic aperture radars (SAR), and tracking their development with the NASA-UAVSAR instrument over a period of eight hours following release. During the experiment, in situ measurements were made from ship or aircraft with meteorological instruments, released drift buoys, and optical/IR imagers. The experiment was designed to provide validation data for development of a physical model relating polarization-dependent electromagnetic scattering to the dielectric properties of oil mixed with ocean water in a thick slick or emulsion. UAVSAR is a particularly low noise instrument, which enables detection of oil characteristics, and serves as the basis for a relative comparison of different radar frequencies and instruments in oil slick detection and characterization. The time series of UAVSAR polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) is used to track the spreading, movement, and change in backscatter of the different emulsion slicks and the plant oil, to look at movement relative to wind and wave directions, and to develop methods to differentiate between biogenic and mineral slicks based upon temporal changes in the slicks, including environment-driven changes. In this presentation, the experiment will be described and preliminary results presented. This work was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. The Norwegian experiment was partly financed by CIRFA - Centre for integrated remote sensing and forecasting for arctic operations.