Experimental Study and Method for Predicting the Viscosity of Water-In-Super Heavy Oil Emulsions

Abstract

We used five samples of super heavy oils collected in China to prepare 15 water-in-oil emulsions, with water cuts 10%, 20%, and 30%. We determined the viscosity of the emulsions at 30°C-75°C. Generally the viscosity of the studied emulsions is in the range 401-75200 mPa·s. Based on the experimental data, we propose a new rheological model for water-in-super heavy oil emulsions based on the Kalra model, introducing a term characterizing the dependence of the relative error on the water cut in the emulsion. The absolute average error in predictions according to the proposed model was 17.36%, which is 6.37% lower than in the original Kalra model.