Heavy mineral-asphaltene interactions governing the stability and destabilization of water-in-oil emulsions
asphaltenes). At higher pyrite concentrations, however, emulsion stability decreases under centrifugation due to the high density of pyrite. In mixed solvents of reduced aromaticity (heptol), enhanced asphaltene adsorption onto pyrite leads to the formation of dense pyrite-asphaltene complexes that promote droplet coalescence and demulsification. The proposed mechanism was further validated using industrial emulsions derived from Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) operations. These findings elucidate how the coupling of surface chemistry and particle density governs emulsion stability and destabilization, providing mechanistic insight relevant to the mitigation of asphaltene-related environmental challenges in heavy oil production.
Authors
- Diling Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6818-9570)
- Yuanyuan Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3006-0701)
- Zhiling Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0322-431X)
- Ziqian Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3380-2803)
- Qing Sun
- Hongbo Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1432-5979)
- Xiaohui Mao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5664-4567)
- Hongtao Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4882-1301)
Institutions
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Hunan Normal University (CN)
- Donghua University (CN)
- Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Hazardous Materials
- Published
- 2026-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.142128
- Primary Topic
- Petroleum Processing and Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Canadian Natural Resources Limited
- Suncor Energy Incorporated
- Syncrude
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- Canada Research Chairs
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada