Application of variable frequency technique on electrical dehydration of water-in-oil emulsion

Although the concept of optimum frequency had been proposed many years due to the various dielectrics, electrical and rheological properties of the water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion, the frequency of the pulsed DC electrical field was still kept constant during the electrical dehydration process in most of the industry application up to now. Taking into consideration of the increment of the droplets’ diameter and variation of various dielectric and rheological properties of the dispersion system during the dehydration process, the dehydration efficiency of pulsed DC electrical field with changing frequency during the dehydration process was investigated in this paper. The results showed that with appropriate combination of the frequencies, the dehydration efficiency of the pulsed DC electrical field can be significantly improved.

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► The dehydration efficiency electric field with changing frequency was investigated.
► With changing frequency the dehydration efficiency of electric field can be improved.
► The results certified the existence of optimum frequency for a given dispersion system.
► The results could be related to the optimal design of an efficient electrocoalescer unit.