Demulsifiers, or demulsifying agents are a class of speciality chemicals to separate emulsions, such as, water in oil. There general utility is in the handling of raw petroleum, which is commonly created alongside noteworthy amounts of saline water. This water (and salt) must be expelled from the raw petroleum before refining. If majority of water and salt are not removed, the significant corrosion problems can occur in refining.Demulsification is the breaking of raw petroleum emulsion into oil and water stages.
The oil demulsification mostly addresses the following stages:
Rate at which separation happens
Water left in the unrefined emulsion after breakdown