Antifoam and defoamer

Problems caused by foam in the oil and gas field

The meaning of the foam in the processes is the presence of bubbles that are formed due to the diffusion of gas in the liquid and remain stable in the system. The presence of foam or in the term foam leads to many problems during the processes, such as bubble corrosion damage, overflow and fluid waste, and as a result, it reduces the efficiency and disrupts the process or even in the transfer of products for oil production and refining. Therefore, it can be said that the existence of the floor leads to a decrease in productivity and also damage to the equipment and causes an increase in costs.

How anti-foams work and their classification

Antifoams are additives that cause the loss of foam by reducing the surface tension and thus releasing the trapped gas. Antifoams used in the field of oil industry are mostly based on alcohol, silicone, or combined compounds, and based on their application, they can be divided into two general sections:

• Oil and gas production sector: drilling mud, oil-gas refining and separation, gas wear and gas dehydration
• Refinery processes section: vacuum distillation, cracking process, crude oil distillation, benzene-toluene-xylene, extraction of aromatic compounds

Choosing the right antifoam

One of the main causes of foam formation in various processes of the oil industry is the presence of impurities such as hydrocarbon compounds, metal oxides, sulfur compounds, mineral salts in petroleum fluid. The choice of antifoam type depends on factors such as the cause of foam formation, the operating conditions of the process, and the type of process fluid. To choose the appropriate antifoam, the floor collapse test should be performed on the process fluid with different antifoams and it should be noted that the used antifoam does not react with the process fluid and does not lose its effectiveness in operational conditions.

Specialized antifoams produced by Abrizan company

Below are the specialized antifoams produced by Abrizan company for the oil and gas industries: