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The oil drilling process involves many delicate sub-processes. Failure in one of these processes may lead to a cascade of failures across other processes. It is for this reason that oil companies do not tolerate failure in the oilfield at any point. And to make sure of this, oil producers rely on certain tools, materials, and chemicals to sustain a high level of productivity, and ultimately, profitability. Each tool, material, or chemical mitigates the failure of any process by solving problems that arise during the extraction of crude oil from the ground. But the problem that chemical demulsifiers solve is one of the most crucial in the oilfield.

This article takes you through:

• First, why we need demulsifiers in oilfields, where we discuss the problem that demulsifiers solve.
• It then tells you what demulsifiers are and how they work.
• And just like other oilfield chemicals, it has to be shipped in bulk. So, you’ll see how to ship chemical demulsifiers in bulk.

Why We Need Demulsifiers in Oilfields

One of the major problems that have the potentials of reducing expensive oil drilling efforts to naught is water contamination of oil. During the extraction of oil from the ground, oil is not the only chemical that makes it out. Crude oil comes in a mixture containing various compounds, including water. But we don’t need the water. It would be pointless to invest billions of dollars just to pump water from the ground when what we need is oil. Hence, the need to further separate the crude oil from the water.

Water in oil is a problem because;

• It may lead to the corrosion of oil storage components and tanks. Electrolytes are a crucial requirement for corrosion, and water makes a perfect electrolyte at some temperature ranges. And when corrosion attacks oil storage components, it could lead to a reduction in the quality of the oil in the storage tanks. It could also damage the components, leading to unnecessary replacement costs.
• Another reason why water contamination of oil is bad news is that water reduces the lubricity of oil. And this increases the possibility of damage to the mechanical components that use the derivatives of the oil (such as gasoline, and diesel).
• Since water is more susceptible to temperature swings than oil, having a lot of water content in oil makes it hard or impossible to store or further process the oil.
• Water is also a growth enabler for slimy microbial growth. These growth clog filters and holes that crude oil should pass through.

These challenges lead to the water contamination of oil. And because of the potential complications that water in oil causes, there is a need to reduce the water content in oil. But the solutions depend on how the water exists in the oil.

Water either exists in oils either as an emulsion or free water. An emulsion is a uniform mixture of water and oil (two naturally immiscible liquids). Free water is water that visibly separates from the oil, thereby forming layers of oil and water. While mechanical filtration and separation techniques may work on free water, they are ineffective for emulsions. But with the use of demulsifiers, we can effectively separate water from the oil, irrespective of how the water exists in the oil

What are Demulsifiers

As the name suggests, demulsifiers remove emulsions. Emulsions forms when water and oil — two normally immiscible liquids — remain stably mixed. Demulsifiers discourage the water in oil emulsion and ensure that the particles of either liquid are separate enough that mechanical separation techniques become feasible. In other words, demulsifiers encourage the formation of free water that is then easy to remove through the use of mechanical methods.

How do Demulsifiers Work?

Demulsification is the breaking down of water-in-oil emulsions. These emulsions are liable to form naturally from the oil well. Naturally occurring emulsifiers, asphaltenes and resins, make sure of this. These agents encapsulate the particles of water in interfacial films that make them more stable and likely to remain mixed in crude oil. So, what demulsifiers do is that they reverse the effect of the emulsifying agents by destabilizing the water in oil emulsions. They achieve this by breaking down those interfacial films to make the water separate from the oil.

One of the reasons the naturally occurring water in crude oil emulsions are so stable is that the water mixes with the oil at the minute particle level. Micro and nano particles of water combine with oil particles before being uniformly dispersed all around the liquid. These uniform dispersion and particulate mixing make separating these liquids difficult for mechanical separation techniques.

Processes Involved in Demulsification

Demulsifiers go about breaking the emulsions in two major processes. The first is the flocculation or aggregation of scattered water particles. This process makes water droplets or particles come close to one another. But this does not necessarily mean the water droplets have separated from the oil. The interfacial films that attach the water particles to the oil particles are still yet to be destroyed. This first step is just the part where the particles coagulate.

The second step is coalescence, and this is where the water particles coalesce. The interfacial films that were keeping the water and oil in emulsion weaken to the point of breaking. Little water droplets and particles then come together to form heavier droplets that easily settle down to the bottom of the reservoir through sedimentation. But if there is no way to remove the water sediments from the bottom of the reservoir, oil producers use a process called creaming to make the water float to the top.

The Use of Chemical Demulsifiers

There are many ways to achieve this emulsion destabilization. Heating crude oil is one way to go about it. Decreasing the agitation of the oil is another effective way to destabilize the emulsion formation. Other methods include the removal of solids that have the tendency to keep emulsions stabilized, and increasing the time the emulsion spends at treating temperature. But the use of chemical demulsifiers is still the most popular of these methods.

Chemical demulsifiers, like emulsifiers, are also surface-active agents. Only that demulsifiers break down the interfacial films that keep the emulsions stable. They also encourage the coalescence of the water droplets. The only tricky part about using chemical demulsifiers is the complexity of choosing the best demulsifier for water-crude emulsions because of the various contents of the crude oil.

The fact that chemical demulsifiers are the most popular for demulsification doesn’t mean the other methods are unimportant, however. In fact, many oil producers make use of at least two demulsification methods during the processing of crude oil.

Advantages of Using Chemical Demulsifiers in the Oilfield

Here are some benefits that chemical demulsifiers have over other demulsification methods

●      Increased energy content

The ultimate goal of the oil and gas industry is to produce energy. It only makes sense that we try to extract as much energy from every drop of oil we have painstakingly extracted from the ground. And the use of demulsifiers for the separation of water from oil takes us closer to this goal.

Water displaces a corresponding volume of crude oil. And since oil is the main energy content of the mixture, the more water we have in the oil, the less energy content we can extract from the crude oil.

●      Allows for the use of mechanical separation methods

Once demulsifiers separate the water particles from the oil particles, it becomes easier to use mechanical techniques to separate the water content from the oil. This is especially beneficial, as the mechanical separation devices are most effective when the water is in free water from or unstably emulsified.

The shipping of Chemical Demulsifiers

It is difficult for oil producers to do without chemical demulsifiers at the oil drilling sites. As a result, oil companies invest as much into the shipping of the chemicals as they invest in the chemicals themselves. And when the chemical demulsifiers are needed in bulk, as they are often needed at drilling sites, the best way to ship them is through the use of stainless steel liquid bulk tankers.

Challenges of Shipping Chemical Demulsifiers to Oilfields

Shipping chemicals to oilfields always comes with challenges. Some, you may be able to prepare for. Others could only have been anticipated by experienced carriers.

For instance, the roads in many oil drilling sites may sometimes prove tricky to maneuver for inexperienced carriers. This inexperience may not be a problem until these carriers get involved in accidents with their millions of dollars’ worth of cargo. This issue is often common in massive oil drilling sites.

Another challenge that confronts the shipping of chemical demulsifiers — and any oilfield chemical for that matter — is the amount of work and planning that goes into the logistics and distribution management system of the chemicals. Ideally, this system is supposed to manage out-of-stock situations and optimize cost. But this system itself needs a lot of hands on deck to work smoothly. For instance, a typical oil company supply chain would include shipping warehouse managers, inventory supervisors, purchasing directors, site foremen, third-party freight managers, and many more. The major challenge here is that all these parties must work perfectly as a team, as miscommunication from one party could be catastrophic.

These challenges are only a few of the things that could go wrong with the shipping of chemical demulsifiers to oilfields. And with each challenge comes a level of risk. Risks that could cost your oil company millions of dollars as well as its reputation. However, partnering with an experienced oilfield chemical logistics company, such as Total Connection, will help you cut down on the risks that these challenges expose your company to.

Shipping your Liquid Bulk Chemical Demulsifiers with Total Connection

Total connection logistics offers you competence, reliability, and experience. And the company has had almost three decades to hone each of these services to best suit your business. What you get is a logistics company that is consistent with the effective shipping of your oilfield chemicals at costs that are best suited to your company. In our years of service, we have worked with both the consumer and supplier ends of the oilfield chemicals logistics. And we have built a network of partnerships that promises a lot of benefits to our clients.

Your business too can enjoy reliable chemical demulsifier shipping while cutting out excessive costs and unnecessary risks when you leverage our network of partnerships. You can start by simply filling out the short quote form below.

Surfactants are some of the most useful oilfield chemicals. Without them, oil drilling and fracking would be way less profitable and productive. Surfactants help in oil recovery from the ground. A feat that would require many more complex processes to achieve without these crucial chemicals.

But the use of surfactants transcends the oil and gas industry. These industrial chemicals are so important that they have critical uses across various fields. We use surfactants in soaps and detergents, lubricants, anti-fogging liquids, adhesives, fabric softeners, herbicides, emulsifiers, pharmaceutical formulations, cosmetics, and inks. Even the human body produces its surfactants.

Here in this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about this widely useful chemical, including:

• What surfactants are, why they are so important in and out of the oilfield, and how they work.
• The benefits of surfactants.
• How safe surfactants are for the environment.
• And finally, the safe and reliable way to ship surfactants.

What Are Surfactants?

The name “surfactant” was originally coined from “Surface Active Agent”. This name suggests that surfactants act on surfaces. And in this case, the surfaces that surfactants act on are two phases that would normally not mix (like oil and water). It reduces the surface tension between the two phases so that the phases are more likely to mix.

You have surfactants in your house, and you probably don’t even know it. Most detergents, shampoos, lubricants, and other everyday chemicals usually have surfactants in them.

How Surfactants Work

Surfactants have unique properties that make them useful for various purposes. The molecules of the chemicals have two distinct parts; water-soluble and water-insoluble. This property allows surfactants to fit perfectly in between different phases, lower their surface tensions, and make it more likely for them to mix.

Have you tried washing an oily plate with just water? Or tried to wipe a spilled jar of mayonnaise clean? The plate still ends up oily because the water just washes over the surface of the oil. But when you add a detergent that has a surfactant in it, it makes the oil mix better with the water, making it easy to wash off.

Now, scale it up to the level of cleaning up oil spills at oilfields. With the help of surfactants, oil recovery becomes enhanced and less wasteful.

Benefits of Surfactants

You may already have an idea about the benefits of surfactants from what now know about what the chemicals are and how they work. But here are more detailed benefits of surfactants.

1.    Surfactants Boost Cleaning Effectiveness

Cleaning agents, such as detergents, have surfactants in them to make cleaning more effective. Without surfactants in them, detergents would not mix with water, and cleaning would be stressful.

2.    Eases Lubrication

Shaving creams have surfactants in them to reduce friction and ease the movement of the razor over the skin while reducing irritation. Lubricants in car engines also use surfactants to prevent particles from accumulating on the engine parts.

3.    Saves Costs on the Oilfields

The use of surfactants in oilfields may be one of the most important uses of the chemicals. Cleaning up oil spills and recovering oil from the ground would require a lot of complex processes to complete without surfactants. And the more the processes are, the more oil companies spend.

Are surfactants Safe for the Environment?

All oilfield chemicals are subject to this question from the ever-scrutinizing hands of the environmental conservationists. And this is not surprising, as the oil drilling process involves a lot of processes and the use of chemicals that are not environment-friendly. But what about surfactants? Are they safe for the environment?

Thankfully, the American Cleaning Institute has invested time and resources into shedding light on this age-long debate. This investment is just another on the long list of contributions the body has made over years in a bid to promote environmental sustainability. They do this by inventing and improving approaches and tools to manage industrial chemicals, such as surfactants.

During the research, over 250 studies were carried out on the environmental toxicity and properties of four key high-volume surfactant classes. These surfactant classes are mostly used in various cleaning and personal care products. The conclusion was a positive one. The authors of the research paper concluded “that risk assessments demonstrate that these substances, although used in very high volume and widely released to the aquatic environment, have no adverse impact on the aquatic or sediment environments at current levels of use.”

How to Ship Surfactants

As it is with other chemicals, the shipping of these chemicals is just as important as the chemicals themselves. No one can use them if there aren’t ways to ship the surfactants from the manufacturers to the end-users. And so, the need for an appropriate shipping system for surfactants cannot be overemphasized.

Depending on the quantity of surfactants being shipped, the shipping methods of surfactants vary. Shippers tend to make use of drums or IBC totes to ship and ensure the long-term storage of small quantities of surfactants in liquid form. But the liquid bulk shipping of surfactants for industrial uses may use liquid bulk tanker trucks.

During this liquid bulk surfactant shipping, thousands of gallons of the chemicals are loaded into Stainless Steel Insulated (SSI) tanker trucks. And the trucks are manned by liquid chemical drivers who have adequate experience in safely transporting the chemical to their destinations. However, this sort of transport comes with its complications.

Challenges of Shipping Liquid Surfactants in Bulk

The major challenge that confronts the shipping of bulk liquid surfactants is the fact that surfactants are classified as hazardous materials. And the transport of hazardous materials comes with a lot of regulations and complications. These regulations are necessary because an accident involving hazardous surfactants could have severe impacts on the environment.

For instance, surfactants in their raw forms have negative reactions when they come in contact with human skin. And the reactions could worsen if consumed. So, this classification of surfactants as hazardous materials is an attempt by the United States to make the transport of the chemicals as safe as can be under the guidance of rules and regulations.

It however takes an experienced liquid chemical carrier to successfully transport the chemicals to their destinations hitch-free. The liquid chemical carrier needs to have the proper hazardous material certifications, a sixth sense familiarity with the regulations, and the proper hazmat transport training and equipment. Without these, the carrier and the chemical owners are liable to penalties from the bodies in charge of the shipping.

Only a few liquid bulk carriers qualify to handle this delicate task of shipping these highly dangerous chemicals, and Total Connection liquid bulk tanker carriers are among the few.

Ship Your Surfactants With Total Connection

Total Connection is a logistics company with over 20 years shipping oilfield and industrial chemicals all over the world. We have forged partnerships with the world’s leading distributors of surfactants, oil companies, and other industries to minimize your shipping costs by shortening your supply chain.

In our two-decades-plus of experience shipping surfactants, we have handled different complications and challenges, and we have mastered the job to the point of perfection. All you need is to fill the quote form below and our industrial chemical shipping experts will be in touch with you.

There is a major dilemma surrounding drilling and fracking for oil and gas. On one hand, humankind can hardly survive without this source of energy. Our survival hinges on it. But on the other hand, the oil drilling and fracking processes have many adverse effects on the environment. All sorts of drilling chemicals are injected into the ground to boost the production of oil, degrading the environment around the drilling site. And this has got environmental activists going on and on about these detrimental effects.

There is a major dilemma surrounding drilling and fracking for oil and gas. On one hand, humankind can hardly survive without this source of energy. Our survival hinges on it. But on the other hand, the oil drilling and fracking processes have many adverse effects on the environment. All sorts of drilling chemicals are injected into the ground to boost the production of oil, degrading the environment around the drilling site. And this has got environmental activists going on and on about these detrimental effects.

Amongst these oil drill-optimizing chemicals are drilling fluids and additives. In this article, you’ll see:

• What drilling fluids and additives are, and why we use them in the oilfield.
• The different types of drilling fluids and additives.
• What you need to know about shipping these oilfield chemicals, including the challenges that befall them.
• And how Total Connection oilfield chemical logistics company is a solution to these challenges.

Drilling Fluids and Additives: What They Are Why We Use Them

Drilling fluids, or drilling muds, are oilfield chemicals that help to ease the drilling of wellbores deep into the ground. And as the name suggests, operators add drilling fluid additives to drilling muds to help to boost the effectiveness of the drilling fluids. The combination of drilling fluids and additives makes the oil drilling process more efficient, while mitigating the environmental impacts and ultimately saving costs.

The needs of each oilfield are unique, depending on location, size of the operation, how challenging the job is, and many other factors. As a result, the fluid and additives used in oil production are numerous to help cater to these various needs in the oilfield.

The Different Types of Drilling Fluids and Additives

There is a long list of drilling fluids and additives types, with each serving a unique purpose in the highly complex drilling process. The following are the different types of drilling fluids and additives we use in oilfields.

Fluid Loss Control Agents

When drilling fluids are injected into wellbores to force oil out of fractures, the turbulence down there could lead to the loss of fluids. This is bad because uncontrolled fluid loss bears grave consequences on the environment. As a result, it is important to use fluid loss control agents to control the escape of drilling fluids into places they shouldn’t get to.

Defoamers

Some unwanted gases try to escape to the surface during the oil drilling process. These gases could drop the effectiveness of drilling fluids by a huge margin when they mix with the fluids. The muds then begin to foam to show that a lot of gases have been trapped within. That is why there is the need for defoamers. Defoamers are mud additives used to release the trapped gases in the drilling mud to send unwanted gas up to the surface.

Drilling Fluid Additives

Not only is oil drilling complex, but it’s also delicate. Too much alkalinity or acidity could ruin the entire process. That’s what oil producers invest in drilling fluid additives which help to adjust and regulate the pH levels of the drilling fluids. These chemicals keep the acidity and alkalinity of the drilling muds under control.

Alkalinity Control

Alkalinity control chemicals are similar to drilling fluid additives. They also help to regulate the pH level of the drilling muds. Examples of alkalinity control chemicals include citric acid, soda ash, lime, lime O, magnesium oxide, sodium bicarbonate, potassium hydroxide, caustic soda, and more.

Emulsifiers and Wetting Agents

Injecting drilling fluids at high rates could cause a lot of instability in the wellbores if there aren’t some chemicals in the drilling fluids. Examples of such chemicals are emulsifiers and wetting agents. Emulsifiers and wetting agents help reduce the surface tension in drilling fluids to improve their penetrating and spreading properties.

Pipe-Freeing Agents

Friction in pipes is also another problem that might have caused a lot of problems for oil drilling companies if there weren’t pipe-freeing agents. The drilling fluid could stick to some parts of the pipe and reduce fluid flow until it completely blocks the pipe. This is especially common in pipes that are angled in deviated wellbores. To combat the situation, oil companies use pipe-freeing agents. Examples of pipe freeing agents include soaps, glass beads, oils, surfactants, soda lime, cationic polyacrylamide, and many more.

Lubricants

It’s no news that friction could be a major oil drilling problem if untended. Fortunately, there are many oilfield chemicals that help to combat it. An example of such chemicals are lubricants. Lubricants help to reduce drag and torque in the drill bit, thereby putting all the generated horsepower to effective work. Examples of lubricants include diesel oil, different kinds of vegetable oils, fatty acid esters, graphite powder, asphalt blends, soaps, air-blown asphalt colloids, and many more.

Temperature Stabilizers

Oilfields in high-temperature regions always need to maintain thermal stability. There is also the need to boost the stability of the filtration and rheological properties of the drilling fluids. We use temperature stabilizers in oilfields for these two main reasons.

Viscosifiers

There are some drilling situations where high viscosity drilling fluids are needed. And this often happens when there are rock cuttings to float to the surface from the wellbores. Since rock cuttings might not float well in low viscosity fluids, viscosifiers are needed to increase the viscosity of the drilling fluids. A common viscosifier example is clay. Some fluid loss control agents may also double as viscosifiers.

Surfactants

The use of surfactants is similar to that of emulsifiers and wetting agents. Surfactants reduce the interfacial tension between water and the surfaces it comes in contact with inside the wellbore, including oil, air, and solids.

Friction Reducers

Friction reducers help to reduce the high friction pressures that are generated from the rapid and powerful injection of drilling fluids into wellbores. There is so much more about this oilfield chemical. Our article on friction reducers tells you everything you need to know about them.

Shipping Bulk Drilling Fluids and Additives for Oilfields

These drilling fluids are very important in the oilfield, and oilfields cannot do without them. A drilling site has to have these chemicals ready for use because millions of dollars could be lost otherwise. And that is why oil producers often knit close partnerships with the oilfield chemical logistics companies.

Challenges of Shipping Liquid Bulk Fluids and Additives for Oil Fields

Every oil company wants one thing amongst many others: a comprehensive logistics and distribution management system that helps them optimize cost and reduce out-of-stock situations. But this is a major challenge for the oil companies, as achieving this aim is easier said than done. There are just so many parties involved in the coordination of these supply chains. For instance, a supply chain would need inventory supervisors, site foremen, purchasing directors, third-party freight managers, carriers, shipping warehouse managers, and that’s just naming a few.

Another challenge that confronts oil companies is the usually vast sizes of the oilfields, with some being hundreds of miles wide in size. This is a problem because oil and gas drilling has not evolved to a level of complete technological automation. Everything has to be done manually.

And operators carry out so much chemical monitoring manually, they have to rely on their field experience and tools that are prone to error from years of use. But with nothing but their experience and these inaccurate tools, operators have to monitor chemical stock levels, injection rates, chemical supply, and production rates. These responsibilities are hard to lay on the shoulders of experience alone, as production rates are often inconsistent and forecasting becomes difficult.

Without putting proper planning and a reliable oilfield chemical logistics company in place, the consequences would be dire. A timeout of a few hours on the part of the logistics company could lead is too much time to waste. That is why it is best to partner with an experienced and reliable oilfield chemical logistics company, such as Total Connection.

Shipping Your Oil Fields Drilling Fluids and Additives with Total Connection

Total connection offers you something many other logistics companies struggle with. One of them is experience. We aren’t just talking about general logistics experience. Anyone can offer you that. We’re talking about hardcore experience in shipping oilfield chemicals to drilling sites effectively, efficiently, and reliably on a routine basis. Total Connection has almost three decades of experience in that. And in that time, we have worked with budding oil companies to the largest oil production companies with sustained success.

From experience, we are already familiar with all the possible challenges that may befall your oil production company. And we have the skills and networks that foresee and minimize your risks because of these challenges. With these skills and networks, we have forked out significant opportunities that remain unknown to other logistics companies, to save you costs while minimizing the likelihood of out-of-stock situations.

Let us know how we can help tighten up your oilfield drilling fluid and additives supply chain. Start by filling out the quote form below. We’ll be glad to partner with you.