One-step synthesis of amine-rich demulsifiers at ambient temperature and insight into hydrogen bond-driven demulsification mechanisms

As a crucial strategic energy resource, crude oil tends to form highly stable oil-water emulsion systems during extraction and processing. Current demulsification processes commonly face challenges such as high energy consumption, large chemical dosage, and limited separation efficiency. To address these issues systematically, demulsifiers FF and FS were successfully synthesized via a one-step method at ambient temperature in this study. Experimental results showed that under optimized conditions (45°C and a dosage of 400 mg/L), FF and FS achieved demulsification efficiencies of 98.67% and 99.23%, respectively. Both demulsifiers also exhibited excellent salt and acid-alkali tolerance. Furthermore, the migration behavior of the demulsifiers at the oil-water interface was investigated through dynamic interfacial tension. Combined with molecular simulation, the electrostatic potential distribution between demulsifier and asphaltene molecules was elucidated, and the strength of hydrogen bonding interactions with water molecules was quantitatively evaluated.