A Review of Oil–Solid Separation and Oil–Water Separation in Unconventional Heavy Oil Production Process

Abstract

Unconventional heavy oil ores (UHO) have been considered an important part of petroleum resources and an alternative source of chemicals and energy supply. Due to the participation of water and extractants, oil–solid separation (OSS) and oil–water separation (OWS) processes are inevitable in the industrial separation processes of UHO. Therefore, this critical review systematically reviews the basic theories of OSS and OWS, including solid wettability, contact angle, oil–solid interactions, structural characteristics of natural surfactants and interface characteristics of interfacially active asphaltene film. With the basic theories in mind, the corresponding OSS and OWS mechanisms are discussed. Finally, the present challenges and future research considerations are touched on to provide insights and theoretical fundamentals for OSS and OWS. Additionally, this critical review might even be useful for the provision of a framework of research prospects to guide future research directions in laboratories and industries that focus on the OSS and OWS processes in this important heavy oil production field.

Demulsification Methods for Heavy Crude Oil Emulsions. A Review

“…Taking into account the positive results obtained by Ma et al 45 regarding the effectiveness of the developed nonionic demulsifier for the rapid demulsification of water-oil emulsions, including water-in-diesel fuel, waterin-crude oil emulsion, water-in-petroleum bitumen emulsion, and water-in-asphaltene solution, Xia et al 46 developed a new type of environmentally friendly demulsifier (a non-ionic polyester modified with hydrophilic groups) for the effective demulsification of stable heavy oil-water emulsions. These hydrophilic groups (such as hydroxyl group, carboxyl group, ester group, and amino group) combined with non-ionic simple polyether can have the following two important advantages in the demulsification of heavy oil-water emulsions.…”

Intelligent Devices Harnessing Underwater Superoleophobic and Underoil Superhydrophobic Quartz Sands for the Separation of Diverse Stratified and Emulsified Water–Oil Mixtures

“…Oil entering the natural water will cause great harm to the ecosystem, such as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill accident, which has seriously affected the survival and reproduction of marine life. − At the same time, as an important chemical raw material and energy source, the recycling of oil is conducive to reducing resource waste and aiding energy conservation and emission reduction. Meanwhile, in the process of oil production, efficient oil–water separation helps to improve the purity and quality of oil . Traditional oil–water separation methods mainly rely on differences in the physical properties of oil and water (density and solubility), such as centrifugal separation, gravity separation, filtration, adsorption, flotation, thermal separation, and electrical separation .…”

“…Meanwhile, in the process of oil production, efficient oil−water separation helps to improve the purity and quality of oil. 9 Traditional oil−water separation methods mainly rely on differences in the physical properties of oil and water (density and solubility), such as centrifugal separation, 10 gravity separation, 11 filtration, 12 adsorption, 13 flotation, 14 thermal separation, 15 and electrical separation. 16 However, for the separation of emulsions, these traditional oil−water separation methods, which are mainly based on density differences, are no longer effective because the oil droplets are fine and stabilized in the water by the emulsifier.…”

Treatment of Oily Effluents Using a Bacterial Cellulose Membrane as the Filter Bed

“…Another important point is the care required when the water is to be reused in other processes, as the accumulation of oil can damage equipment, generating expenditures on maintenance and the loss of operating time. Oil content in reused water can also exert a negative impact heat exchange processes or lead to fines if disposal in waterbodies is not performed in compliance with the standards required by regulatory agencies [8,11].…”