Paper: Chemical Treatment of Oil Field Emulsions

Emulsions in oil production are accepted today as a normal operational condition. The equipment and materials necessary to resolve produced emulsions are usually placed in the field as soon as a well begins to produce water in the form of an emulsion in quantities that exceed pipeline specifications. During the early years of the oil industry neither the knowledge, equipment, nor chemicals were available to treat oil effectively. Early methods of breaking emulsions consisted of settling time, and, in some cases, the use of heat. As a result, emulsion was often drawn off the bottom of tanks and burned as waste.