Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and a method for separating a hydrocarbon containing material such as crude oil from water. The system of the present invention includes a treatment tank, a layer of a fluid having a chemical affinity for the hydrocarbon contain material being separated within the tank for separating the hydrocarbon containing material from said water without any mixing and with a minimum level of turbulence, and a distribution system for introducing the water with the hydrocarbon containing material into the layer of chemical affinity fluid. The method of the present invention broadly comprises the steps of providing a treatment tank having a layer of a fluid having a chemical affinity for the hydrocarbon containing material and separating the hydrocarbon containing material from the water without any mixing and with a minimum of turbulence by introducing the water with the hydrocarbon containing material into the layer of chemical affinity fluid.

Abstract: The method for forming a stable emulsion of a viscous crude hydrocarbon in an aqueous buffer solution, includes the steps of: providing a viscous crude hydrocarbon containing an inactive natural surfactant and having a salt content by weight of less than or equal to about 1.0% and having a total acid number of greater than or equal to about 1, preferably greater than or equal to about 2.5; forming a solution of a buffer additive in an aqueous solution to provide a basic aqueous buffer solution, the buffer additive being operative to extract and activate the inactive natural surfactant from the viscous crude hydrocarbon; and mixing the viscous crude hydrocarbon with the aqueous buffer solution at a rate sufficient to provide an emulsion of the viscous crude hydrocarbon in the aqueous buffer solution, whereby the buffer additive extracts the inactive natural surfactant from the viscous crude hydrocarbon and activates the inactive natural surfactant so as to stabilize the emulsion.

Abstract: A method for dehydrating and desalting an oil-in-water emulsion includes the steps of: injecting a demulsifier into the flow to destabilize the emulsion; injecting water to promote desalting; and passing the flow through a mixing pipeline having a length (L) and inside diameter (D) determined as follows: ##EQU1## wherein: f--is a Fanning Friction factor.rho..sub.e --is a density of the emulsion (gm/cc);Q.sub.e --is a flow rate of the emulsion (bbl/day);.mu..sub.e --is a viscosity of the emulsion (poise);K--is an instrument constant of a dynamic coalescer;F--is a rotational speed of the dynamic coalescer (rpm);t--is a mixing time (hr);D--is the inside diameter of mixing pipeline (inches); andL--is the length of the mixing pipeline (km).