Research progress and development trend of heavy oil emulsifying viscosity reducer: a review

Abstract

Faced with the increasing shortage of conventional oil, heavy oil has shown great potential. However, high viscosity of heavy oil hinder the use of traditional exploitation and transportation methods. Emulsifying viscosity reduction has been widely applied due to the advantages of excellent effect and simple process. To better guide researchers in screening and designing emulsifying viscosity reducers, the review mainly collected the application of surfactants including cationic types, anionic types, nonionic types and anionic-nonionic composite types, in emulsifying viscosity reduction in the past five years, and briefly analyzed the current challenges and future development trends.

Topics & Concepts