Formation Stable Heavy Hydrocarbon/Water Emulsion by Bioemulsifiers Produced by Bacillus Licheniformis

In recent years, one of the important advances in the transportation of oil compounds and bitumen application is the use of emulsions. Selection of emulsifier plays a decisive role in the formation of emulsion and its stability. Bioemulsifiers are alternative or complementary to emulsifiers and, in addition to better biodegradability, have less environmental pollution. In this paper, a domestic strain of Bacillus licheniformis was cultured in optimal conditions and the extra-cellular bioemulsifier was separated by a multi-stage process. By preparing mixture adding different values of the bioemulsifier and Stabiram 4582 emulsifier, the exact emulsification process was devised resulting in various emulsion with different values of heavy hydrocarbon and emulsification agent in water by using rotor-stator. According to the Taguchi experimental design method, reduction of viscosity and stability tests have been performed and demonstrated that this bioemulsifier has the ability to produce a stable hydrocarbon in water emulsion. Subsequently, the conditions of emulsion production have been optimized. In optimal conditions (60 % heavy hydrocarbon, 1.32 % emulsifier (90 % bioemulsifier and 10 % chemical emulsifier), and 45 °C temperature), the viscosity of the heavy hydrocarbon decreases significantly (about 98 %), and then remains stable for 96 hours. Finally, the use of this emulsion can reduce the consumption of energy in the preparation of bitumen emulsions and also in the transport pipelines of heavy crude oil and products such as mazut or fuel oil significantly.