Emulsion Polymerization of P (MMA-AA-EA) and Its Demulsifying Performance in Water/Oil Emulsion

Stable water-in-oil emulsions are produced in oil exploitation and cause many environmental and operational issues. In this paper, a co-polymer demulsifier is reported in detail; an emulsion polymerization method is used to prepare nano-P (MMA-AA-EA) with MMA, AA and EA as the monomers, DVB as the cross-linker and APS as the initiator. The resulting products are characterized by FT-IR. Furthermore, the surface tension and particles size analysis is investigated. The results show that the surface tension reduction is 10.66 mN/m at 20°C when the concentration of co-polymer is 1000 ppm and the average size is 76.99 nm. Moreover, the HLB of polymer is discussed specifically by changing the amount of AA. With the increase of AA, the HLB value of the polymer is increased accordingly. Besides, the demulsification performance of the co-polymer is also evaluated at different synthesis and demulsification conditions. It is showed that the maximum demulsification efficiency is 96% at 70°C for 60 min. The optimum concentration of demulsifier is 400 ppm when the amounts of AA and DVB are 1.4 g and 0.1 g, respectively. At last, the process of demulsification is showed under a microscope; the coalescence process of water droplets is indicated under the action of the demulsifier.