CHEMICAL DEMULSIFICATION OF MODEL WATER-IN-OIL EMULSIONS WITH LOW WATER CONTENT BY MEANS OF IONIC LIQUIDS

Abstract The demulsification of model water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions containing 1% wt. water by [Omim][PF6] and Aliquat® 336 ionic liquids (IL) as demulsifiers was investigated in batch mode at different temperatures (30, 45 and 60 °C) and demulsifier concentrations (2.5×10‒3, 1.2×10‒2 and 2.9×10‒2 mol L‒1). The model oil is a mixture n-heptane/toluene (70/30% wt.) with 1% wt. of Span® 83 as a surfactant. Experimental results showed that the main differences in demulsification dynamics between systems containing IL and blank (i.e., in the absence of demulsifier) are detected at 30 ...