Development and evaluation of oil in water nanoemulsions based on polyether silicone as demulsifier and antifoam agents for petroleum

ABSTRACT Oil in water (o/w) nanoemulsions were synthesized in order to be evaluated as an alternative to petroleum emulsions destabilization processes and inhibition of foam formed in the crude oil. The nanoemulsions were prepared by the high energy method through High Pressure Homogenizer (HPH), utilizing poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) and xylene solvent as oil phase and different polarity polyether silicone surfactants samples. These nanoemulsions were evaluated in respect to their efficiency in the petroleum demulsification process. The results of these tests showed that nanoemulsions performance on the destabilization of petroleum emulsions is influenced by the utilized surfactant's polarity. The nanoemulsions and pure samples of PPG and xylene solvent were evaluated concerning capacity of formed foam inhibition in petroleum (antifoam test), and the results showed no significant influence of samples on foam stability. Petroleum/saline water added interfacial tension measurements, added or not the nanoemulsions were executed and showed that the additives adsorption in the interface is related to the surfactant's polarity and nanoemulsion drop size. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40889.