Oil/Water Separation Using a Naturally Processed Demulsifier

The goal of this study is to investigate the potency of extracted corn husk particles as demulsifiers (emulsion breakers) for crude oil emulsions produced in the petroleum industry. Extracted husks from corn were milled into fine particles, characterized, and employed as demulsifiers for water removal from heavy crude oil emulsion produced during hydrocarbon exploitation. The emulsion was formed from crude oil and synthetic seawater. Various amounts of corn husk particles acting as demulsifiers were added into 10 mL of W/O emulsion in separate 15mL bottles tightly covered and agitated. Oil/water separation was monitored inside the oven. The operating temperature was set at 65 °C. The corn husk particles performed excellently in the separation of water from crude oil emulsions. The particles were able to settle at the water bottom without mixing with the oil phase. Optical morphology of produced emulsion before and after the addition of husk particles showed traces of oil sample are still left in the water. Rheological characterizations support the observation from the demulsification test. The mechanism governing the performance of the corn husks demulsifier for the emulsion separation was proposed. The outcome of this study reveals that corn husk particles are promising demulsifiers for water-oil separation in the petroleum industry and are capable of achieving approximately 99% demulsification efficiency. This is the first study to investigate the efficiency of corn husk particles as a demulsifier for heavy crude oil emulsion separation. The use of corn husk particles will save operational costs as the known commercial demulsifiers are very expensive.