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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Measurement of the Rheology of Crude Oil in Equilibrium with CO2 at Reservoir Conditions
Published on: June 6, 2017
Stability of water/crude oil emulsions based on interfacial dilatational rheology
Christophe Dicharry1, David Arla, Anne Sinquin
1Thermodynamique et Energétique des Fluides Complexes, UMR 5150, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, BP 1155, 64013 Pau Cedex, France. christophe.dicharry@univ-pau.fr
Abstract:
The dilatational viscoelasticity behaviors of water/oil interfaces formed with a crude oil and its distilled fractions diluted in cyclohexane were investigated by means of an oscillating drop tensiometer. The rheological study of the w/o interfaces at different frequencies has shown that the stable w/o emulsions systematically correspond to interfaces which present the rheological characteristics of a 2D gel near its gelation point. The stability of emulsions was found to increase with both the gel strength and the glass transition temperature of the gel. As expected, the indigenous natural surfactants responsible for the formation of the interfacial critical gel have been identified as the heaviest amphiphilic components present in the crude oil; i.e., asphaltenes and resins. Nevertheless, we have shown that such a gel can also form in the absence of asphaltene in the oil phase.
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