Louis Fradette and Philippe Tanguy propose recipes to form an endless emulsion made of heavy crude oil, water and fine particles.
Simply adding particle to water then mix to raw material will produce a so called Pickering’s emulsion easily transportable by pipeline.
Here what happens: the particles introduced will produce a layer between oil and water, encapsulating oil or water, depending on proportions, into droplets and reducing the overall viscosity of the mixture.
At the end of the process, a purely mechanical process allows for separating the oil from the water, allowing for reusing the water in a closed-loop.

Performances:

• Best for oil with API of 16 and below;
• Once diluted, the emulsion viscosity can lowered to an equivalent of 20+ API;
• Wide variety of particles (type and size) can be used for downstream processes compatibility;
• Between 15 and 30% water is added to prepare the emulsion;
• Water can be fully recycled after minimal treatment; and
• Water salinity does not affect the emulsion stability