Addition of silica nano-particles for the enhancement of crude oil demulsification process

摘要

Different chemical demulsifiers were added to heavy Fula crude oil samples (Balila, Sudan) in screen test with and without the addition of silica nanoparticles (NPs). Two particle sizes of 25nm and 95nm were investigated using three different concentrations of 30ppm, 60ppm and 90ppm. The addition of silica nanoparticles resulted in a clear improvement in demulsification in most cases. An increase of 150% in water separation was achieved with the addition of 25nm silica NP suspension in a volume ratio of 1:0.5 (chemical demulsifier to silica nanoparticles) at a concentration of 60ppm.