Composition and process for demulsifying oil/water emulsions

摘要

The invention relates to a composition for demulsifying an emulsion which comprises oil and water (oil/water emulsion), the composition comprising a salt of formula (I) [R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 A + ] m [X n- ], wherein [R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 A + ] represents a cation; A is nitrogen or phosphorus; R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 may be the same or different and each of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 is a hydrocarbyl group containing 6 to 26 carbon atoms; [X - ] represents an anion; and m = n = 1, 2 or 3. Further, the invention relates to a process for demulsifying an oil/water emulsion comprising contacting the emulsion with said salt of formula (I). Still further, the invention relates to a method of recovering crude oil from a crude oil containing formation wherein said salt of formula (I) is also used as a demulsifier for the oil/water emulsion recovered from said formation.