(271a) Handling of Heavy Hydrocarbon Emulsion Spills in Water

Heavy hydrocarbon inverse emulsions were prepared from fuel oil and heavy crude oils in water at about 70% oil concentration. These emulsions reduce viscosity of hydrocarbon in several orders of magnitude so they can be used for transportation of heavy feedstock from production fields or refineries to processing centers or commercial ports. Considering that these systems are highly dispersible in water, emulsion spills must be handle in a non-traditional way since emulsion contaminates the water column and it is necessary to establish strategies to control and recuperate contaminated hydrocarbon promptly. It was developed a methodology that permits to refloat and agglomerate the heavy hydrocarbon that in normal conditions settles in the bottom of water bodies. The behavior of emulsion spills is different in stagnant waters and stream currents. In stagnant water the emulsion goes to the bottom and continues moving along the bottom, while in water streams the emulsion never goes to the bottom and travels in the upper part of the water column. At the beginning, the front of the spill moves more rapidly that the speed of the stream, due to a dispersion component, but after some time the spill moves at the same velocity of the water stream. The length of the spill is longer with the spilled amount but it reduces with the speed of the water stream. The methodology to recover hydrocarbon uses flotation devices especially designed according to the characteristics of the site of the spill. In addition, additives are used to limit the dispersion process. This methodology was used at pilot plant and industrial level and the recovery of hydrocarbon was up to 85%.