The Effect of Waxes Addition on Rheological Properties of O/W Concentrated Model Emulsions

Abstract

As heavy oil contains different impurities that increase the viscosity, pipeline transportation becomes economically disadvantageous. Oil-in-water emulsification, adopted as a cost reduction transportation technique, may take advantage of the presence of natural components of heavy crudes, asphaltenes, and resins as emulsifiers and waxes as stabilizers, decreasing the viscosity with respect to the pure-oil one. This article aims at investigating the effect of waxes addition on the viscosity of model oil-in-water emulsions produced in bench-scale, using two different emulsification techniques. Results showed that paraffin accelerates the emulsification completion during an in-flow test and also emulsion viscosity was lowered by waxes addition.

Keywords:

• O/W emulsions
• rheology
• waxes
• viscosity