A new method to judge the phase inversion point of crude emulsion

Abstract

In this study, the viscosity method to determine the phase inversion point of the emulsion was optimized, so as to obtain a simpler and more convenient method to determine the phase inversion point with the same accuracy as the viscosity method. Firstly, emulsification experiments were carried out on seven types of crude and the corresponding formation water using the stirring method, and the viscosity of emulsion was measured. Then, the new method proposed in this work and two models proposed by predecessors for predicting phase inversion point were compared with the viscosity method. The results show that the phase inversion point obtained by the new method was consistent with the measurement result of the viscosity method, and the calculation results of the other two models have some errors with the viscosity method. Therefore, the advantage of the optimization method is not only the predictions are same as the viscosity method, but more importantly, it omits the complicated steps of measuring the viscosity of emulsions as well as avoids the trouble of inaccurate measurement when the emulsion’s viscosity is too large or too small, and improves the judgment accuracy of the phase inversion point of emulsion to a certain extent.

Graphical abstract

The viscosity method is optimized as a schematic diagram of the actual moisture content method, and the flow chart of the two methods for determining the phase inversion point.

Keywords:

• Phase inversion point
• prediction model
• viscosity method optimization

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received from the State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This article has been funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. U19B2010 and 51904255).