Petroleum Emulsions-Properties, Applications, and Challenges in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Review

Abstract

Petroleum emulsions are vital in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes where water is injected into the reservoir to recover oil. These emulsions serve the important function of improving the oil recovery rate, but at the same time, they create significant problems with regards to their stability, transport, separation, and processing. A great deal of work has been done on the creation and stabilization of these emulsions, along with moving the needles about their mechanisms understanding. Recent studies have focused on combination of substances that lack synthetic emulsifying polymers to replace them with more eco-friendly options. Beside the natural solids, surfactants emerged as more descriptive ways of stabilizing these emulsions and also more favourable compared to the rest chemical stabilizers. This review analyzes theories of emulsions formation, issues of these emulsions, and latest research works regarding the stabilization of raw water emulsions, as well as the importance of emulsions in the processes of EOR alongside shrinkable surfactants straddling smart advanced nanomaterials for effective emulsion control toward more sustainable EOR stewardship.