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In crude oil production from brown fields or heavy oil, there is production of water in oil emulsions which can either be controlled or avoided. This emulsion resulted in an increase in viscosity which can seriously affect the production of oil from sand phase up to flow line. Failure to separate the oil and water mixture efficiently and effectively could result in problems such as overloading of surface separation equipments, increased cost of pumping wet crude, and corrosion problems. Light hydrocarbon diluent was added in varied proportions to three emulsion samples collected from three different oil fields in Niger delta, Nigeria, to enhance the demulsification of crude oil emulsion. The viscosity, total petroleum hydrocarbon, and quality of water were evaluated. The viscosity of the three emulsions considered reduced by 38, 31, and 18%. It is deduced that the increase in diluent blended with emulsion leads to a corresponding decrease in the value of viscosity. This in turn enhanced the rate of demulsification of the samples. The basic sediment and water (BS&W) of the top dry oil reduces the trace value the three samples evaluated, and with optimum value of diluent, TPH values show that the water droplets are safe for disposal and for other field uses.

Water and soil samples from the vicinity of Agbabu bitumen field of Southwestern Nigeria, were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively for 10 parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using gas chromatography coupled by flame ionization detector (GC-FID), in order to gather information on the degree of contamination by bitumen exploration and processing in this area. The total concentrations of 10 PAHs varied from 11.2 to 341.5 microg L(- 1) in water and from 101.5 to 209.7 ng g(- 1) dry weight in soils. The total PAH levels in water samples from all the sampling stations (except at station WB 11), were sufficiently high (> 10 microg/L) to cause acute toxicity to the exposed organisms. Special PAH compound ratios, such as phenanthrene/anthracene and fluoranthene/pyrene, were calculated to evaluate the relative importance of different origins. The collected data indicate pyrolytic and petrogenic sources. The anthropogenic PAHs, i.e., pyrene and benzanthracene exhibited similar distribution patterns in the studied area, implying that these compounds possess identical sources. Also, dibenzothiophene, a sulfur heterocyclic aromatic compound was determined in this study and it was not detected in all the samples analyzed.

The cost and difficulty in the preparation of synthetic heterogeneous base catalysts is the main barrier to their use. Today, the majority of these catalysts are derived from biomass resources. This study aimed at developing and characterizing these catalysts from three biogenic residues for biodiesel production without catalyst support. The EDS indicated the variation of Na, K, Mg, and Ca, having aggregates of 67.45, 83.15, and 76.85 % in calcined‐ periwinkle shell‐ash (CPWSA), ‐melon seed‐husk ash (CMSHA) and ‐locust bean pod ash (CLBPA), respectively. XRD revealed the presence of sodium oxide (Na2O), calcium oxide (CaO), potassium oxide (K2O), and magnesium oxide (MgO) in the catalysts at 800 °C. The FTIR showed the presence of C=O, C−H, and O−H bonds in the catalyst samples. The basicity values of CPWSA, CMSHA, and CLBPA are 11.65, 10.41, and 11.62, respectively. The developed catalysts were used to synthesize biodiesel from palm kernel oil.

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