Preparation and Characterization of Reference Fluids to Mimic Flow Properties of Crude Oil Emulsions (w/o)

Abstract

The multiphase flow models, such as OLGA® and LedaFlow®, have been developed based on the multiphase flow experiments, where base oils have been widely used. However, physicochemical properties of the base oils and crude oils are mostly not similar and therefore liquid–liquid flow properties of them in the pipes can be very different. Consequently, it is very important to get the fluids behave in a similar way with the produced crude oils. In this study, the reference fluids with flow properties similar to the produced crude oils and their corresponding emulsions have been prepared. The steps involved to prepare the reference fluids for crude oils were also discussed.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Crude oil
• crude oil emulsions (w/o)
• pipe flow
• reference fluid
• rheology