Studies of water-in-oil emulsions: Stability studies

Rheological studies were conducted on the water-in-oil emulsions of three crude oils: Arabian Light; Green Canyon; and Sockeye. The emulsions were found to fall into three categories on the basis of both rheological properties and visual appearance: stable; mesostable; and unstable. Stable emulsions are characterized by high viscosities and elasticities and are indefinitely stable. In this study stable emulsions showed true viscosities (viscosity with elasticity separated) approximately 700 times that of the starting oil and mesostable emulsions approximately 50 times that of the starting oil. Mesostable emulsions break into water, oil and sometimes emulsion within about 3 d.