Role of Naphthenic Acids in Stabilizing Water-in-Diluted Model Oil Emulsions

The need for alkaline conditions in oil sands processing is, in part, to produce natural surfactants from bitumen. Previous studies have shown that the produced surfactants are primarily carboxylic salts of naphthenic acids with the possibility of sulfonic salts as well. The role of these natural surfactants, particularly those in the naphthenate class, is to provide a physicochemical basis for several subprocesses in bitumen extraction. In this study, it was found that the content of indigenous naphthenic acids in bitumen can destabilize, to some extent, the water-in-oil emulsion by lowering the interfacial tension, reducing the rigidity and promoting the coalescence of water droplets.