Experimental investigation of cassava and orange peel liquid derivatives as demulsifiers for crude oil emulsion treatment

The need for an efficient and cost-effective approach of separation of water from oil cannot be overemphasized. Effective and time-bound separation of emulsion is needed to ensure optimum production of hydrocarbons. This work investigates the effectiveness of cassava and orange peel liquid extract for demulsification. Cassava and Orange peel were processed and liquid extracted. The extracts were mixed and blended with camphor powder, liquid soap and heated at 40^oC for complete dissolution. Emulsion and formulated demulsifiers (Cassava peel liquid extract, orange peel liquid extract, and Xylene) were mixed in the ratio of 90:10,80:20,70:30,60:40 mls and the water separation was measured after 20 minutes up to 140 minutes for 20 minutes interval at room temperature. Results shows that for 10 mls demulsifiers, xylene demulsifier has the least water separation at forty minutes optimum separation time while cassava peel liquid extract demulsifier gave the highest water separation at an optimum time of one hundred minutes. All the three demulsifiers had an optimum separation time of one hundred and twenty minutes for 20 mls demulsifiers addition, but cassava peel liquid extract had the highest water separation while xylene and orange peel extract gave the least water separation. Also, cassava peel liquid extract gave the highest separation at optimum time of one hundred and twenty minutes while orange peel extract demulsifier had the least water separation level at the same optimum time for 30 mls of demulsifiers. One hundred and twenty minutes was the optimum separation time for 40mls demulsifiers with cassava peel liquid extract having the highest water separation while the orange peel extract gave the least water separation. Cassava peel liquid extract demulsifier had the best performance at room temperature among the demulsifiers and recommended for higher temperature condition to verify its performance.