Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Multibranched Block Polyether Demulsifier by Polymerization

Various flooding technologies were applied in the middle and late stages of the oilfield, which made the heavy oil emulsion receive much concern because of its high stability and separation difficulty. In our paper, alcohol molecules were used as initiators and multibranched block copolymers were synthesized through open-loop polymerization technology. A variety of novel modified block polyether demulsifiers with demulsification activity were finally synthesized through water-soluble modification and oil-soluble modification, which achieved efficient demulsification of heavy oil emulsions. Hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) values and surface tension were used to characterize demulsifiers. In addition, their demulsification efficiency was evaluated by measuring the amount of dehydration in the separated heavy oil emulsion experiments. The experimental results showed that within 5 h, the demulsification effect of the water-soluble demulsifier is better than that of the oil-soluble demulsifier. When the HLB value of the demulsifier reaches a certain value, the dehydration rate and the demulsification effect reach the highest point. When the amount of demulsifier is 50 μg/g and the demulsification temperature is 85 °C, the dehydration rate of the water-soluble demulsifier X-6 reached 91%, the water quality was clear, and the demulsification effect reached its peak. This work will provide a novel and efficient demulsifier for demulsification and dehydration of heavy oil emulsions.