Emulsification of Athabasca bitumen by organic alkali: Emulsion phase behavior and viscosity for bitumen/brine/triethylenetetramine

Results show that the o/w emulsions created by TETA can be an effective bitumen carrier with a low viscosity and high bitumen content in the emulsion. It is possible to create o/w emulsions by adding a small amount of TETA to Athabasca bitumen and NaCl brine. Single-phase o/w emulsions, which are desirable as a bitumen carrier, were observed for TETA concentrations below 5.0 wt% at salinities 0 ppm and 1000 ppm at 373 K. The bitumen content in o/w emulsion was the highest for 2.0 wt% TETA samples, and it increased with increasing temperature. In comparison to the original bitumen, o/w emulsions were 4-5 orders of magnitude less viscous at 298 K, 2 to 3 orders of magnitude less viscous at 323 K, and 1 to 2 orders of magnitude less viscous at 353 K.