Characterization of Oil-Water Dispersions/Emulsions Flowing Through Restrictions

An experimental study of the characterization of oil-water dispersions/emulsions flowing through an orifice plate was carried out in the Dispersion Characterization Rig^® (DCR), a state-of-the-art facility for studying the separation process of dispersions/emulsions. In this study, experiments with distilled water and mineral oil at different choke pressures, velocities, and different orifice sizes were conducted in order to find the phase-inversion zone and observe how the separation profile is affected by these variables. Bulk flow kinetic energy and water cut, are plotted against the pressure drop in the orifice plate to find the inversion point. Image processing technique is used to measure the coalescing and sedimenting profiles with respect to time. Results indicate a good agreement between the two methods used to find where phase inversion occurs and that this is affected by velocities, choke pressure and orifice plate size; also that emulsions become more stable when smaller size of orifice plates are used, as expected.