ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of a study carried out on coalescence/filtration of water-in-oil emulsion–one of the techniques available for breaking down emulsions. It investigates the use of various coalescing media for breaking down water-in-oil emulsions. The chapter includes the following tasks: characterization of emulsions; laboratory studies of emulsions using a coalescer column employing four different types of coalescer media; and an analysis of efficiency of the system under various operating conditions. All the emulsions used in this study were collected from Murphy Oil in Saskatchewan. The following media were used in the experiments: fiberglass; polypropylene; coal; and sand. The qualitative analysis of coalescence phenomena in this coalescing column was carried out by observations and various tests. Observations were made both visually and with the use of a microscope. The microscope observations were also recorded by high speed picture photography. The more definitive tests used were: basic sediment and water (BS & W) test; bottle test; and viscosity measurements.
