Effects of Ultrasonic Treatment on the Properties and Interfacial Composition of High-Viscosity Oil Emulsions

Ultrasonic treatment (UST) of a 30 wt % heavy oil emulsion of distilled water was shown to depress the water droplet dispersion, emulsion viscosity, and the specific fracture energy of the dispersed system. The interfacial layer extracted from the sonicated emulsion had a lower content of resins and a higher content of asphaltenes than the interfacial layer of the initial emulsion. After the UST, the resins of the interfacial layer exhibited a higher concentration of oxygenated moieties, and the average asphaltene molecule had a lower number of sulfur, oxygen, and carbon atoms in its aliphatic moieties.