Quality Control and Performance Assessment of Demulsifiers: A Case Study from Kuwait Field Operations

Abstract Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has observed a decline in the effectiveness of oil/water emulsion separation by chemical demulsification despite the quality compliance of the chemical during the quality control upon shipment. To understand the source of the issue, a rigorous quality control procedure was implemented to ensure the consistency in the performances of the demulsifiers throughout the production cycle, based on the analysis of a real case from KOC field operations. The assessment included the analysis of different batches of demulsifier to evaluate if any change in chemical composition could have happened but also the analysis of the process evolution over the noncompliance period. As a result of the analysis, recommendations have been emitted to improve the quality analysis process of the demulsifier but also to improve the monitoring of the process conditions evolutions that could result into a degradation of the separation performances.