Eventos Anais de eventos
ENCIT 2018
Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering
ANTIFOAM PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MEDIUM API GRAVITIES PETROLEUMS
Submission Author:
Eloi Monteiro dos Santos , SP
Co-Authors:
Eloi Monteiro dos Santos, Natache Sassim, Marcelo Souza de Castro
Presenter: Eloi Monteiro dos Santos
doi://10.26678/ABCM.ENCIT2018.CIT18-0738
Abstract
Foam formation represents a major problem in petroleum production processes, being responsible not only for increased residence times in separation equipment (and thus a diminished production rate), but also for damages in pumps, compressors and purifiers. Therefore, the best condition possible to conduct the phase separation between the oil produced and the gas that was released from it is a complete absence of foam. In order to better understand the interaction between a silicon-based antifoam and different kinds of petroleum, foam formation experiments were conducted and recorded using newly developed equipment, which optimizes foam generation during experiments. During the tests, foam formation and decay were analyzed under the influence of different antifoam concentrations (0, 10, 20, 40 and 60 ppm), and in petroleum samples of 20 and 30 API gravities. Foam behavior was observed through video recordings of oil decompression experiments, in which the petroleum is heated and pressurized until saturation, and posteriorly depressurized in a transparent chamber. Tests with the 20ºAPI oil showed that the antifoam indeed inhibits foam formation at all concentrations tested, while the 30ºAPI oil exhibited a different behavior, in which the antifoam just prevented foam formation when applied in a concentration of 60 ppm.
Keywords
Crude Oil, Petroleum, foaming, antifoam, depressurization foam
