On the impact of oil compounds on emulsion behavior under different thermodynamic conditions

Asphaltene instability in oil causes severe problems such as deposition and more stable emulsions. Formation and stability of W/O emulsions based on location in which they are formed can either be helpful or detrimental for enhanced oil recovery. Changes in oil composition (saturate, aromatic, resin, and asphaltene) can also render the stability of asphaltene. In this study, the formation and staility of emulsions are investigated using changes in the colloidal instability index (CII) at ambient and reservoir conditions. Experiments were conducted for crude oil samples from various reservoirs which showed that when CII is greater than 1.059, due to the excessive instability of asphaltene and its movement toward the water–oil interface, the formed emulsion would be more stable. When CII was below 1.059 though, the asphaltene became stable hence did not tend to be placed at the water–oil interface, thus less stable emulsion was expected. Higher pressures led to an increase in the stability of the emulsion. These changes in the process of emulsion stability are related to two mechanisms of asphaltene absorption and greater shear stresses.