Synthetic Polymers for Petroleum Industry

Crude oil production under deep water presents serious operational problems; its main implication is the paraffin blockage with serious economical consequences due to possible obstruction of flow pipes or production lines. Also, there are an increasing number of crude oil fields that produce both crude oil and water, naturally occurred or injected as a second stage recovery to maintain the reservoir operating pressure and fluid flow profile. The water in crude oil emulsion so produced will then be stabilized by the variety of surfactant indigenous to the crude oil called emulsifying agent. It is more economic to separate water before transportation. Polymers have been used extensively in the petroleum industry as pour point depressant and demulsifiers for economical transportation of crude oil since the former can prevent the deposition in the pipe lines which may cause blockage of the transportation lines. Demulsifiers are class of surfactants used to destabilize the emulsions by reducing the interfacial tension at the emulsion interface, often by neutralizing the effect of the other, naturally occurring surfactants which are stabilizing the emulsion.