Effect of electromagnetic field on water-in-oil emulsion and calcium carbonate crystallization

Abstract

The investigation was devoted to the effect of electromagnetic field on crystallization of calcium carbonate, structure of CaCO3 crystals generated from oversaturated aqueous solutions, and water-in-oil emulsion (crude oil) properties. XRD demonstrated that electromagnetic field caused a decrease in mean size of CaCO3 particles by 30 μm and prevalent aragonite formation. We detected that electromagnetic field application leads to decreased apparent viscosity of water-in-oil emulsion and inhibits influence of a non-ionogenic surfactant on stability and viscosity properties of crude oil. As a matter of practice, the method demonstrated its efficiency to prevent scale deposits in oil production wells.