EP2382022A1

EP2382022A1 - Hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates as demulsifiers for cracking crude oil emulsions

Info

Publication number: EP2382022A1
Application number: EP09793545A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bernd Bruchmann; Andreas Eichhorn; Marcus Guzmann
Original assignee: BASF SE
Current assignee: BASF SE
Priority date: 2008-12-29
Filing date: 2009-12-21
Publication date: 2011-11-02
Also published as: US20110272327A1; RU2011131653A; US8618180B2; RU2516469C2; CA2747990A1; CN102333576A; MX2011006960A; BRPI0923766A2; CN102333576B; WO2010076253A1

Abstract

The invention relates to the use of non-dendrimer, highly functional, hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates, which can be obtained by reacting (i) at least one aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic, or aromatic dicarboxylic acid (A2) or derivatives thereof, or organic carbonates (A₂') with (ii) at least one x-valent aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic, or aromatic alcohol (C_x), which comprises more than two OH groups, where x is a number greater than 2, preferably 3 to 8, particularly preferred 3 to 6, very particularly preferred 3 to 4, and especially 3, and (iii) at least one fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) of saturated or unsaturated C₂-C₃₀ fatty acid amides having on average 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units, as demulsifiers for cracking crude oil emulsions.

Description

Hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates as demulsifiers for cracking crude oil emulsions

The invention relates to the use of hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates as demulsifiers for cracking crude oil emulsions.

Crude oil usually accumulates during production as a relatively stable water-oil emulsion. Depending on the age and deposit, this may contain up to 95% by weight of water. The water may be, on the one hand, water already present in the deposit, and, on the other hand, water injected into the deposit in the course of secondary and / or tertiary mineral oil production by means of injection bores. In general, even larger amounts of salts are dissolved in the water, for example alkali or alkaline earth metal salts, and furthermore the emulsion usually also contains solids which are discharged from the borehole with the oil-water emulsion. The water-oil emulsions are stabilized by natural, occurring in crude emulsifiers, such as naphthenic acids. They can also be stabilized by non-naturally occurring emulsifiers, such as surfactants, which were introduced for tertiary oil production in the oil reservoir, and are now discharged again with the oil thus promoted.

Water, salts and solids must be removed before processing the crude at the refinery. Refineries often require that the water content of the delivered crude oil is not more than 1%. For economic reasons, the removal of the water and the other components from the crude oil is still carried out at the place of production in order to avoid the uneconomical transport of water and to prevent or at least minimize corrosion problems.

The phase separation of the water-oil emulsion should be as fast as possible and as complete as possible. Only in this way can the plant for phase separation, such as settling tanks, be kept as small as possible in view of the large production volumes. On offshore platforms, the use of small, compact systems for phase separation in view of the limited space already a structural necessity, and generally, of course, small systems require lower investment costs than large systems. An often asked requirement is that the phase separation should not take more than about 20 to 30 minutes. It is known to use emulsion breakers (demulsifiers) to accelerate the phase separation of oil-water emulsions. Emulsion breakers are surface-active substances that influence the oil-water interfaces and thus contribute to a faster phase separation.

EP-A 0 264 841 describes the use of linear copolymers of hydrophobic acrylic or methacrylic acid esters and hydrophilic ethylenically unsaturated monomers as petroleum emulsion breakers.

EP-A 0 499 068 describes the preparation of reaction products of vinylic monomers and alcohol or phenol alkoxylates and their use as demulsifiers for crude oil emulsions.

No. 5,460,750 describes reaction products of phenolic resins and alkylene oxides as emulsifiers for crude oil emulsions.

EP-A 0 541 018 describes emulsion breakers prepared from polyethyleneimines having a weight-average molecular weight of up to 35,000 g / mol and ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, the second active component additionally employed being an alkylphenol-formaldehyde resin.

EP-A 0 784 645 describes the preparation of alkoxylates of polyamines, especially of polyethyleneimines and polyvinylamines, and their use as crude oil emulsion breakers.

EP-A 0 267 517 discloses branched polyaminoesters as demulsifiers. The branched polyamino esters are obtained by reacting alkoxylated primary amines with triols and dicarboxylic acids.

Furthermore, dendrimeric polymers are described as demulsifiers for crude oil.

US 4,507,466 and US 4,857,599 disclose dendrimeric polyamidoamines. US 4,568,737 discloses dendrimeric polyamidoamines as well as hybrid dendrimers of polyamidoamines, polyesters and polyethers, and their use as demulsifiers for crude oil. The preparation of dendrimers is very time-consuming (see below), so these products are very expensive and hardly economically viable in large-scale applications. DE 103 29 723 describes the preparation of alkoxylated, dendrimeric polyesters and their use as biodegradable emulsion breakers. The dendrimeric polyesters used are based on a polyfunctional alcohol as the core molecule and a carboxylic acid having at least two hydroxyl groups as a constituent component. Construction components which have both an acid function and at least two hydroxyl functions, so-called AB _{2 building} blocks, are comparatively rare and therefore expensive. Furthermore, the construction of dendrimers is complicated and cost-intensive (see below).

WO2006 / 084816 A1 discloses the use of non-dendrimeric, highly functional, hyperbranched polyesters which are obtainable by reacting at least one aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) or derivatives thereof with glycerol monooleate or glycerol monostearate (B ₂ ) and at least one at least trifunctional alcohol (C _x ) selected from glycerol, dicyclerol, triglycerol, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, 1, 2,4-butanetriol, pentaerythritol, tris (hydroxyethyl) isocyanurate and their polyetherols based on ethylene oxide and / or propylene oxide , as demulsifiers for the cleavage of crude oil emulsions. The demulsifiers described there are still able to be improved in terms of their splitting action.

The object of the present invention is to provide further demulsifiers for the cleavage of crude oil emulsions. These should be simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

The object is achieved by the use of non-dendrimeric, highly functional, hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates, which are obtainable by reacting

(i) at least one aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) or derivatives thereof, or of organic carbonates (A ₂ ^' ), with

(Ii) at least one x-valent aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic alcohol (C _x ) having more than two OH groups, wherein x is a number greater than 2, preferably 3 to 8, particularly preferably 3 to 6, very particularly preferably 3 to 4 and especially 3, and

(iii) fatty acid amide alkoxylates of saturated or unsaturated C ₂ -C ₃₀ fatty acid amides having on average 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units,

as demulsifiers for splitting crude oil emulsions. - A -

Dendrimers, arborols, starburst polymers or hyperbranched polymers are names for polymers that are characterized by a highly branched structure and high functionality. Dendrimers are molecularly uniform macromolecules with a highly symmetric structure. Dendrimers can be prepared starting from a central molecule by controlled, stepwise linking of two or more di- or polyfunctional monomers with each already bound monomer. With each linking step, the number of monomer end groups (and thus the linkages) multiplied by a factor of 2 or higher, and obtained generationally constructed, monodisperse polymers with tree-like structures, ideally spherical, whose branches each contain exactly the same number of monomer units. Due to this perfect structure, the polymer properties are advantageous, for example, one observes a surprisingly low viscosity and a high reactivity due to the high number of functional groups on the spherical surface. However, the preparation of the monodisperse dendrimers is complicated by the need to introduce and remove protecting groups at each linking step and to require intensive purification operations prior to the commencement of each new growth stage, which is why dendrimers are typically only produced on a laboratory scale.

In contrast, hyperbranched polymers are both molecularly and structurally nonuniform. They are obtained by a non-generational construction. It is therefore not necessary to isolate and purify intermediates. Hyperbranched polymers can be obtained by simply mixing the components required for construction and their reaction in a so-called one-pot reaction. Hyperbranched polymers can have dendrimeric substructures. In addition, they also have linear polymer chains and unequal polymer branches. For the synthesis of the hyperbranched polymers, in particular so-called AB _X monomers are suitable. These have two different functional groups A and B in one molecule, which can react intermolecularly to form a linkage. The functional group A is contained only once per molecule and the functional group B in two or more times. The reaction of said AB _X monomers with one another produces uncrosslinked polymers with regularly arranged branching sites. The polymers have almost exclusively B groups at the chain ends.

Furthermore, hyperbranched polymers can be prepared via the A _x + B _y synthesis route. Therein A _x and B _{y represent} two different monomers with the functional groups A and B and the indices x and y the number of functional groups per monomer. In the case of A _x + B _y synthesis, shown here using the example of an A ₂ + B ₃ synthesis a difunctional monomer A ₂ with a trifunctional monomer B ₃ um. This initially produces a 1: 1 adduct of A and B with an average of one functional group A and two functional groups B, which can then also react to form a hyperbranched polymer. The hyperbranched polymers thus obtained also have predominantly B groups as end groups.

The term "hyperbranched" in the context of the polymers in the context of the invention means that the degree of branching DB of the substances in question, which is defined as

T + Z DB (%) = x 100,

T + Z + L

where T is the average number of terminally bound monomer units, Z is the average number of branching monomer units and L is the average number of linearly bound monomer units in the macromolecules of the respective substances, 10 to 95%, preferably 25-90% and particularly preferably 30 to 80%.

As a result of the degree of branching defined in this way, the non-dendrimeric hyperbranched polymers used according to the invention differ from the dendrimeric polymers. In the context of the present invention, "dendrimers" are the polymers when their degree of branching DB = 99.9-100%, meaning that a dendrimer has the maximum possible number of branching points, which can only be achieved by a highly symmetrical design For the definition of the degree of branching see also H. Frey et al., Acta Polym. 1997, 48, 30.

In the context of this invention, hyperbranched polymers are understood as meaning essentially uncrosslinked macromolecules which are both structurally and molecularly nonuniform. However, starting from a central molecule, analogous to dendrimers, they can be constructed with uneven chain length of the branches. However, they can also be constructed linearly with functional lateral branches or, as a combination of the two extremes, have linear and branched molecular parts. For the definition of dendrimeric and hyperbranched polymers see also PJ. Flory, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1952, 74, 2718 and H. Frey et al., Chem. Eur. J. 2000, 6, no. 14, 2499. According to the invention, hyperbranched polyesters and hyperbranched polycarbonates, ie non-dendrimeric polymers within the meaning of the above definition, ie molecular and structurally nonuniform polymers, are used as demulsifiers.

Functional group-containing hyperbranched polymers can be synthesized in a manner known in principle using AB _x , preferably AB ₂ or AB _3, monomers. On the one hand, the AB _X monomers can be incorporated completely in the form of branches into the hyperbranched polymer, they can be incorporated as terminal groups, thus still have x free B groups, and they can be linear groups with (x-1) free B groups are incorporated. Depending on the degree of polymerization, the hyperbranched polymers obtained have a greater or lesser number of B groups, either terminal or as side groups. Further details on hyperbranched polymers and their synthesis are described, for example, in JMS Rev. Macromol. Chem. Phys., C37 (3), 555 to 579 (1997) and the literature cited therein.

Hyperbranched polyester

Demulsifiers according to the invention are obtainable by reaction of

(I) at least one aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) or derivatives thereof with

(ii) at least one x-valent aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic alcohol (C _x ) having more than two OH groups, where x is a

Number is greater than 2, preferably 3 to 8, more preferably 3 to 6, most preferably 3 to 4 and especially 3, and

(Iii) at least one fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) of a saturated or unsaturated C ₂ -C ₃₀ fatty acid amide having an average of 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units.

The ratio of the reactive groups in the reaction mixture is preferably chosen such that a molar ratio of OH groups to carboxyl groups or derivatives thereof is from 5: 1 to 1: 5, preferably from 4: 1 to 1: 4, particularly preferably from 3: 1 to 1: 3 and most preferably from 2: 1 to 1: 2 sets. Hyperbranched polyesters in the context of this invention are understood as meaning uncrosslinked polyesters having hydroxyl and carboxyl groups which are structurally as well as molecularly nonuniform. Uncrosslinked in the context of this document means that a degree of crosslinking of less than 15% by weight, preferably less than 10% by weight, determined by the insoluble fraction of the polymer, is present. The insoluble fraction of the polymer was determined by extraction for 4 hours with the same solvent as used for gel permeation chromatography, ie tetrahydrofuran or hexafluoroisopropanol, depending on the solvent in which the polymer is more soluble, in a Soxhlet apparatus. Dry the residue to constant weight and weigh the remaining residue.

The dicarboxylic acids (A ₂ ) include, for example, aliphatic dicarboxylic acids such as oleic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, suberic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, undecane-α, ω-dicarboxylic acid, dodecane-α, ω-dicarboxylic acid, ice - And trans-cyclohexane-1, 2-dicarboxylic acid, cis- and trans-cyclohexane-1, 3-dicarboxylic acid, cis- and trans-cyclohexane-1, 4-dicarboxylic acid, cis- and trans-cyclopentane-1, 2-dicarboxylic acid , cis- and trans-cyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid. Furthermore, it is also possible to use aromatic dicarboxylic acids, for example phthalic acid, isophthalic acid or terephthalic acid. It is also possible to use unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, such as maleic acid or fumaric acid.

Said dicarboxylic acids may also be substituted with one or more groups selected from Ci-C ₂₆ alkyl or alkenyl groups, _{_C3-Ci2} cycloalkyl or C ₆ -C ₄ aryl groups. Exemplary representatives of substituted dicarboxylic acids are overall mentioned are: 2-methylmalonic acid, 2-ethyl malonic acid, 2-phenylmalonic, 2-methyl succinic acid, 2-Ethylsuccinic, dodecenylsuccinic acid Oleylbernstein-, C ₆ -C ₈ alkenyl, 2-phenylsuccinic, itaconic acid and 3,3-dimethylglutaric acid.

Furthermore, mixtures of two or more of the aforementioned dicarboxylic acids can be used.

The dicarboxylic acids can be used either as such or in the form of their derivatives. It is also possible to use a mixture of a dicarboxylic acid and one or more of its derivatives. Likewise, it is possible to use a mixture of several different derivatives of one or more dicarboxylic acids.

Malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, 1, 2, 1, 3 or 1, 4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (hexahydrophthalic acids), C ₂ -C ₂₄ -alkenylsuccinic acids, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid or their mono- or dialkyl esters are particularly preferably used one.

Derivatives are the relevant anhydrides in monomeric or polymeric form, mono- or dialkyl esters, preferably mono- or di-C 1 -C ₄ -alkyl esters, particularly preferably mono- or dimethyl esters or the corresponding mono- or diethyl esters, furthermore mono- and divinyl esters and mixed esters , preferably mixed esters with different C 1 -C ₄ -alkyl components, more preferably mixed methyl ethyl esters.

At least trifunctional alcohols (C _x ) include glycerol, trimethylolmethane, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, 1, 2,4-butanetriol, tris (hydroxymethyl) amine,

Tris (hydroxyethyl) amine, tris (hydroxypropyl) amine, pentaerythritol, diglycerol, triglycerol or higher condensation products of glycerol, di (trimethylolpropane), di (pentaerythritol), trishydroxymethylisocyanurate, tris (hydroxyethyl) isocyanurate (THEIC),

Tris (hydroxypropyl) isocyanurate, inositols or sugars, such as glucose, fructose or sucrose, sugar alcohols, e.g. Sorbitol, mannitol, threitol, erythritol, adonite (ribitol), arabitol (lyxite), xyNt, dulcitol (galactitol), maltitol, isomaltitol, trifunctional or higher polyetherols based on trifunctional or higher alcohols and ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and / or butyl monoxide.

Preferred at least trifunctional alcohols (C _x ) are glycerol, diglycerol, triglycerol, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, 1, 2,4-butanetriol, pentaerythritol, tris (hydroxyethyl) isocyanurate and also their polyetherols based on ethylene oxide and / or propylene oxide with on average 1 to 40, preferably 1 to 24, particularly preferably 1 to 16, alkylene oxide units per starter molecule.

These polyfunctional alcohols can also be used in mixture with difunctional alcohols (B ₂ ), with the proviso that the average OH functionality of all the alcohols used together is greater than 2, preferably at least 2.1. Examples of suitable compounds having two OH groups include ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1, 2 and 1, 3-propanediol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, neophen tylglycol, 1, 2-, 1, 3- and 1, 4-butanediol, 1, 2-, 1, 3- and 1, 5-pentanediol, hexanediol, cyclopentanediol, cyclohexanediol, cyclohexanedimethanol, difunctional polyether or polyester.

The dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) and the at least trifunctional alcohol (C _x ) are in the presence of a fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) of a saturated or unsaturated C ₂ -C ₃₀ fatty acid amide having on average 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units, preferably 2 to 30 Alkylene oxide units reacted.

Alternatively, the dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) and the at least trifunctional alcohol (C _x ) can first be reacted with one another and the resulting hyperbranched polyesters subsequently later esterified by reaction with the fatty acid amide alkoxylates (D), optionally in the presence of further dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) , Alternatively, the dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) and the at least tri-functional alcohol (C _x ) may also first be reacted with one another and the hyperbranched polyesters obtained subsequently be functionalized by reaction with the fatty acid amide alkoxylates (D).

The alkylene oxide units contained in the fatty acid amide alkoxylates (D) are generally ethylene oxide units or propylene oxide units and mixtures thereof. Preferred fatty acid amide alkoxylates are pure fatty acid amide ethoxylates

Suitable fatty acid amide alkoxylates are derived from saturated or unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, also called fatty acids, having 2 to 30 carbon atoms. Examples are acetic, propionic, butyric, valeric, isobutyric, trimethylacetic, caproic, caprylic, heptanoic, capric, pelargonic, lauric, myristic, palmitic, cerotic, montanic, stearic, isostearic, nanoic and 2-ethylhexanoic acids.

Examples of unsaturated fatty acids are crotonic acid, isocrotonic acid, vinylacetic acid, elaidic acid, oleic acid, sorbic acid, ricinoleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, erucic acid, elaeostearic acid, arachidonic acid, clupanodonic acid or fatty acids from vegetable or animal fats and oils based on, for example, soy, coconut, oilseed rape, olives , Flaxseed, ricinus, sunflowers, fish or marine animals.

The fatty acid amide alkoxylates are preferably derived from saturated or unsaturated fatty acids having 12 to 22 carbon atoms. Particularly preferred fatty acid amides are derived from stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid or linolenic acid.

Very particularly preferred are stearic, oleic, linoleic or Linolensäureamid- ethoxylates having an average of 2 to 30, preferably 2 to 20, more preferably 4 to 15 and in particular 8 to 12 ethylene oxide units.

In the preparation of the polyesters, the fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) is preferably used together with the dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) and the alcohol (C _x ). The mixture of alcohols is selected so that C _x : D in a molar ratio of 95: 5 to 30: 70, preferably 90: 10 to 40: 60 and particularly preferably 80: 20 to 50: 50.

The reaction can be carried out in the presence or absence of a solvent. Suitable solvents are, for example, hydrocarbons such as paraffins, aromatics, ethers and ketones. Preferably, the reaction is carried out free of solvent. The reaction can be carried out in the presence of a dehydrating agent as an additive, which is added at the beginning of the reaction. Suitable examples are molecular sieves, in particular molecular sieve 4Ä, MgSO ₄ and Na ₂ SO ₄ . It is also possible to distill off water or alcohol formed during the reaction, if appropriate under reduced pressure, or, for example, use a water separator in which the water is removed by means of an entraining agent.

You can carry out the reaction in the absence of catalysts. However, it is preferable to work in the presence of at least one catalyst. These are preferably acidic inorganic, organometallic or organic catalysts or mixtures of several acidic inorganic, organometallic or organic catalysts.

Examples of acidic inorganic catalysts are sulfuric acid, sulfates and hydrogen sulfates, such as sodium hydrogen sulfate, phosphoric acid, phosphonic acid, hypophosphorous acid, aluminum sulfate hydrate, alum, acidic silica gel (pH <6, in particular <5) and acidic aluminum oxide. Furthermore, for example, aluminum compounds of the general formula Al (OR ¹ ) 3 and titanates are preferred. Preferred acidic organometallic catalysts are also dialkyltin oxides or dialkyltin esters. Preferred acidic organic catalysts are acidic organic compounds with, for example, phosphate groups, sulfonic acid groups, sulfate groups or phosphonic acid. acid groups. It is also possible to use acidic ion exchangers as acidic organic catalysts.

The reaction is carried out at temperatures of 60 to 250 ⁰ C.

The hyperbranched polyesters used according to the invention have a molecular weight M _w of at least 500, preferably at least 600, and particularly preferably 1000 g / mol. The upper limit of the molecular weight M _w is preferably 150,000 g / mol, more preferably not more than 100,000, and most preferably not more than 80,000 g / mol. The hyperbranched polyesters preferably have a molecular weight M _w in the range from 500 to 50,000 g / mol, particularly preferably in the range from 1000 to 30,000 g / mol.

The polydispersity and the number-average and weight-average molecular weight M _n and M _w here relate to gel permeation chromatographic measurements using polymethyl methacrylate as standard and tetrahydrofuran, dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide or hexafluoroisopropanol as eluent. The method is described in the Analyst Taschenbuch Vol. 4, pages 433 to 442, Berlin 1984.

The polydispersity of the polyesters used according to the invention is generally from 1.2 to 50, preferably from 1.4 to 40, particularly preferably from 1.5 to 30 and very particularly preferably from 2 to 30.

The hyperbranched polyesters used according to the invention show a better cleavage effect than stearic acid-modified hyperbranched polyesters which are described in WO2006 / 084816. Furthermore, due to their reaction, they have a lower molecular weight than the stearic acid-modified hyperbranched polyesters. This has application advantages in that the solutions of the polymers are less viscous and therefore the polymers can be dissolved in higher concentration.

Hyperbranched polycarbonates

Hyperbranched polycarbonates suitable as demulsifiers according to the invention are prepared by reacting

(i) at least one organic carbonate (A ₂ ') with (Ii) at least one x-valent aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic alcohol (C _x ) having more than two OH groups, wherein x is a number greater than 2, preferably 3 to 8, particularly preferably 3 to 6, very particularly preferably 3 to 4 and especially 3, and

(Iii) at least one fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) of a saturated or unsaturated C ₂ -C 30 -fatty acid amide having on average 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units.

Preferably, the preparation of the hyperbranched polycarbonates comprises the steps

a) reacting at least one organic carbonate (A ₂ ) of the general formula RO (CO) OR with the at least one aliphatic alcohol (C _x ) which has more than 2 OH groups, with elimination of alcohols ROH to give one or more condensation products ( K), where R is in each case independently of one another a straight-chain or branched aliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 20 C atoms, and b) intermolecular conversion of the condensation products (K) to a highly functional one , hyperbranched polycarbonate,

wherein the quantitative ratio of the OH groups to the carbonates in the reaction mixture is selected so that the condensation products (K) have on average either a carbonate group and more than one OH group or one OH group and more than one carbonate group,

wherein the reaction according to step a) is carried out in the presence of at least one fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) of saturated or unsaturated C ₂ -C ₃₀ -fatty acid amides having an average of 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units, or in steps a) and b) obtained hyperbranched polycarbonate is subsequently reacted with the fatty acid amide (D).

The radicals R of the organic carbonates (A ₂ ') of the general formula RO (CO) OR used as starting material are each independently a straight-chain or branched aliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 20 C atoms. The two radicals R can also be linked together to form a ring. It is preferably an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical and more preferably a straight-chain or branched alkyl radical having 1 to 5 carbon atoms. Dialkyl or diaryl carbonates can be prepared, for example, from the reaction of aliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic alcohols, preferably monoalko get with phosgene. Furthermore, they can also be prepared via oxidative carbonylation of the alcohols or phenols by means of CO in the presence of noble metals, oxygen or NO _x . For preparation methods of diaryl or dialkyl carbonates, see also "Ullmann ^'s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry", 6th Edition, 2000 Electronic Release, published by Wiley-VCH.

Examples of suitable carbonates include aliphatic or aromatic carbonates, such as ethylene carbonate, 1, 2 or 1, 3-propylene carbonate, diphenyl carbonate, ditolyl carbonate, dixyl carbonate, dinaphthyl carbonate, ethylphenyl carbonate, dibenzyl carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, dipropyl carbonate, dibutyl carbonate, diisobutyl carbonate, dipentylcarboxylate, carbonate, dihexyl carbonate, dicyclohexyl carbonate, diheptyl carbonate, dioctyl carbonate, didecyl carbonate and didodecyl carbonate.

Aliphatic carbonates are preferably used, in particular those in which the radicals comprise 1 to 5 C atoms, for example ethylene carbonate, 1, 2 or 1, 3-propylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, dipropyl carbonate, dibutyl carbonate or diisobutyl carbonate.

The organic carbonates are reacted with at least one aliphatic alcohol (C _x ) which has at least 3 OH groups or mixtures of two or more different alcohols.

Examples of compounds having at least three OH groups are glycerol, trimethylolmethane, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, 1, 2,4-butanetriol, tris (hydroxy-methyl) amine, tris (hydroxyethyl) amine, tris (hydroxypropyl) amine, pentaerythritol, Bis (tri-methylolpropane) or the sugar, such as glucose, tri- or higher polyether polyols based on trihydric higher alcohols and ethylene oxide, propylene oxide or butylene oxide, or polyesterols.

Preferred at least trifunctional alcohols are glycerol, diglycerol, triglycerol, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, 1, 2,4-butanetriol, pentaerythritol, tris (hydroxyethyl) isocyanurate and their polyetherols based on ethylene oxide and / or propylene oxide with an average of 1 to 40, preferably 1 to 24, more preferably 1 to 16 Alky- lenoxideinheiten per starter molecule. These polyfunctional alcohols can also be used in mixture with difunctional alcohols (B ₂ ), with the proviso that the mean OH functionality of all the alcohols used together is greater than 2, preferably at least 2.1. Examples of suitable compounds having two OH groups include ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1, 2 and 1, 3-propanediol, dipropylene glycol, tripropylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, 1, 2, 1, 3 and 1, 4-butanediol, 1, 2-, 1, 3- and 1, 5-pentanediol, hexanediol, cyclopentanediol, cyclohexanediol, cyclohexanedimethanol, difunctional polyether or polyesterols.

The reaction of the carbonate with the alcohol or alcohol mixture to the highly functional hyperbranched polycarbonate used according to the invention takes place with elimination of the monofunctional alcohol or phenol from the carbonate molecule.

The highly functional hyperbranched polycarbonates formed by the process described are terminated after the reaction, ie without further modification, with hydroxyl groups and / or with carbonate groups. They dissolve well in various solvents, for example in water, alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, butanol, alcohol / water mixtures, acetone, 2-butanone, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, methoxypropyl acetate, methoxyethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran, dimethylformamide, Dimethylacetamide, N-methylpyrrolidone, ethylene carbonate or propylene carbonate.

In the context of this invention, a high-functionality polycarbonate is to be understood as meaning a product which, in addition to the carbonate groups which form the polymer backbone, also has at least four, preferably at least eight, functional groups at the end or at the side. The functional groups are carbonate groups and / or OH groups. In principle, the number of terminal or pendant functional groups is not limited to the top, but products having a very large number of functional groups may have undesirable properties such as high viscosity or poor solubility. The high-functionality polycarbonates of the present invention generally have not more than 500 terminal or pendant functional groups, preferably not more than 100, in particular not more than 30 terminal or pendant functional groups.

The reaction according to step a) of organic carbonates with aliphatic polyols is carried out in the presence of at least one fatty acid amide alkoxylate of saturated or unsaturated C ₂ -C ₃ o-fatty acid amides having an average of 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units. Alternatively, the hyperbranched polycarbonate obtained in steps a) and b) can also subsequently be reacted with the fatty acid amide.

Suitable fatty acid amide alkoxylates have already been described above in connection with the hyperbranched polyesters.

The fatty acid amide alkoxylates are preferably derived from saturated or unsaturated fatty acids having 12 to 22 carbon atoms.

Particularly preferred fatty acid amides are derived from stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid or linolenic acid.

In the preparation of the polycarbonates, the fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) is preferably used together with the organic carbonate (A ₂ ) and the alcohol (C _x ). The mixture of alcohols is chosen so that C _x : D in a molar ratio of 95: 5 to 30: 70, preferably 90: 10 to 40: 60 and particularly preferably 80: 20 to 50: 50.

The hyperbranched polycarbonates used according to the invention have a molecular weight M _w of at least 500, preferably at least 800 and particularly preferably 1000 g / mol. The upper limit of the molecular weight M _w is preferably 200,000 g / mol, more preferably it is not more than 150,000, and most preferably not more than 100,000 g / mol. The hyperbranched polycarbonates preferably have a molecular weight M _w in the range from 500 to 100,000 g / mol, particularly preferably in the range from 800 to 80,000 g / mol and in particular from 1000 to 50,000 g / mol.

The hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates are used according to the invention for splitting oil-water emulsions, in particular crude oil emulsions. The term "oil-water emulsions" is intended here to encompass both water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions The oil-water emulsions may contain, for example, from 0.1 to 99% by weight of water or salt water For example, the demulsifiers used according to the invention can be used for separating oil / water emulsions, preferably crude oil / water emulsions having a water or salt water content of from 1 to 98% by weight, especially preferably 5 to 97% by weight and very particularly preferably 10 to 95% by weight are used. The oil components may be oil components of any origin.

The hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates are added to the oil-water emulsions, in particular the crude oil emulsions, for cleavage, preferably in dissolved form. Suitable solvents include water, alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, ethers such as tetrahydrofuran or dioxane, paraffinic solvents such as hexane, cyclohexane, heptane, octane, isooctane or benzene fractions, or aromatic solvents such as toluene, Xyloo or Solvent Naphtha can be used. In this case, demulsifier concentrations in the solution of 10 to 90% by weight have proved successful.

The amount (in ppm by weight) of the alkoxylated polyalkanolamines used according to the invention, based on the oil content of the crude oil emulsion, is generally 0.1 ppm to 5000 ppm, preferably 1 ppm to 3000 ppm, more preferably 2 ppm to 1000 ppm and especially 5 ppm to 500 ppm.

Systems and processes for the cleavage of crude oil emulsions are known to the person skilled in the art. The emulsion splitting is usually carried out locally, i. still on the oil field. It may be an investment in a production well, or a centralized facility in which the cracking of the crude oil emulsions for multiple production wells of an oilfield is performed together.

The cleavage takes place already at the temperature of the freshly produced crude oil emulsion at such a rate that the emulsion can already be split on the way to the treatment plant. This broken emulsion is then separated in an optionally heated separator and possibly with the aid of an electric field in pure oil and water, or salt water. The separator can be installations which only separate under the influence of gravity, for example settling tanks or else other separators, for example hydrocyclones.

The separation of the crude oil emulsion is usually carried out at 10 to 130 ⁰ C, preferably at 40 to 90 ⁰ C.

Since crude oils consist of a mixture of many chemical compounds, it is usually necessary, due to the different chemical composition of the Oil, the water and salt fractions and the concrete conditions of demulsification, such as temperature, duration of emulsion splitting, type of addition and interactions with other components of the mixture to match the demulsifier on the concrete conditions.

Of course, the hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates used according to the invention can also be used in a mixture with other ROH demulsifiers. The further crude-oil demulsifiers may be, for example, oxyalkylated phenol-formaldehyde resins, EO / PO block copolymers or adipic acid-crosslinked EO / PO block copolymers, crosslinked diepoxides, polyamides or their alkoxylates, salts of sulfonic acids or ethyoxylated and / or propoxylated polyethyleneimines act. Preference is given to using EO / PO block copolymers, adipic acid esterified EO / PO block copolymers or ethoxylated and / or propoxylated polyethyleneimines. Corresponding crude oil demulsifiers are disclosed, for example, in DE 25 40 173 or EP 541 018 B1. Particularly advantageously, the alkoxylated polyalkanolamines used according to the invention can also be combined with proteins for emulsion cleavage, in particular with hydrophobins. Further details on hydrophobins as emulsion breakers are disclosed in WO 2006/103251.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the following examples.

Examples

Example 1 Preparation of a hyperbranched polyester

300 g of adipic acid, 160.7 g of glycerol and 221.7 g of an oleamide ethoxylate (molecular weight 720 g / mol, randomly 10 ethylene oxide units per amide group, LUTENSOL FSA 10, BASF SE) and 0.1 g of dibutyltin dilaurate were in a 2000 submitted mL glass flask equipped with stirrer, internal thermometer, condenser, and vacuum connection with cold trap and the mixture heated to melt by means of an oil bath to an internal temperature of 120 ⁰ C. Now, the stirrer was activated and further heated until an internal temperature of 160 ⁰ C was reached. At this temperature, the elimination of water began. The temperature was raised slowly to 190 ⁰ C and while distilling continuously from water. After about 2 h at 190 ° C, 51 g of water were distilled off. The temperature in the flask was lowered to 180 ^° C. and the pressure was slowly reduced to 50 mbar in order to separate off further water formed in the reaction and, if appropriate, low-boiling by-products. The reaction mixture was still 1.5 h kept at said temperature and said pressure. After cooling, the molecular weight of the polymer was determined by gel permeation chromatography with tetrahydrofuran as eluent against PMMA standard. Mn = 900 g / mol, Mw = 3900 g / mol.

Example 2 Preparation of a hyperbranched polycarbonate

In a four-necked flask equipped with stirrer, reflux condenser, gas inlet tube and internal thermometer, 189 g of a triol based on trimethylolpropane, randomly ethoxylated with 3 ethylene oxide units, 216 g of an oleamide ethoxylate (molecular weight 720 g / mol, statistically 10 ethylene oxide units per amide group , LUTENSOL FSA 10, BASF SE), 1 18 g of diethyl carbonate and 0.7 g of potassium hydroxide, the mixture was heated with stirring to 150 ⁰ C and allowed to react at this temperature under reflux. As the reaction progressed, the boiling point of the reaction mixture was reduced due to the incipient cooling of the released ethanol. At a boiling point of 1 14 ° C, the reflux condenser was exchanged for a descending condenser, ethanol distilled off and the temperature of the reaction mixture slowly increased to 180 ⁰ C. After distilling off the ethanol was cooled to 140 ⁰ C, the pressure was reduced to 8 mbar and the reaction product degassed under a gentle stream of nitrogen to remove volatile components.

After cooling, the molecular weight of the polymer was determined by gel permeation chromatography with dimethylacetamide as eluent against PMMA standard.

Mn = 1600 g / mol, Mw = 3600 g / mol.

Example 3

Testing the suitability of the hyperbranched polymers as demulsifiers by measuring the elimination of water from a crude oil emulsion

5 g of the hyperbranched polymer to be tested were weighed into a 100 ml volumetric flask, which was filled up to the ring mark with xylene / isopropanol mixture 3: 1 (by volume) and the hyperbranched polymer was dissolved therein by shaking. A crude oil emulsion from Wintershall AG, Emiichheim, probe 87, having a water content of 55% by volume, was heated to a temperature of 52 ° C. for about 2 hours in a water bath in a container which was not tightly sealed.

The crude oil emulsion was homogenized by shaking for about 30 seconds and each 100 ml of the oil emulsion was filled into 100 ml shaker. The oil-filled shaker cylinders were placed in the water bath.

Using an Eppendorf pipette, in each case 50 μl of the 5% strength by weight solution of the polymer to be tested were metered into a shaking cylinder with crude oil emulsion and the cylinder was closed with the glass stopper. Thereafter, the shaking cylinder was removed from the water bath, shaken 60 times and relaxed. The shaking cylinder was now put back into the water bath and started the timer. The volume of the now separated water was read after 15, 30, 45, 60, 120 and 240 minutes. The results are shown in Table 1.

Claims

claims

1. Use of non-dendrimeric, high functional, hyperbranched polyesters and polycarbonates obtainable by reacting

(i) at least one aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) or derivatives thereof, or organic carbonates (A ₂ ^' ) with (ii) at least one x-valent aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic or aromatic alcohol (C _x ) having more than two OH groups, wherein x is a number greater than 2, preferably 3 to 8, more preferably 3 to 6, most preferably 3 to 4 and especially 3, and (iii) at least one fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) saturated or unsaturated C ₂ -C ₃₀ -fatty acid amides having on average from 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units,

as demulsifiers for splitting crude oil emulsions.

2. Use according to claim 1, characterized in that the dicarboxylic acid (A ₂ ) is selected from the group consisting of malonic acid, succinic acid,

Glutaric acid, adipic acid, 1, 2, 1, 3- or 1, 4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (hexa-hydrophthalic acids), phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid and their mono- and dialkyl esters.

3. Use according to claim 1, characterized in that the organic carbonate (A ₂ ^' ) is selected from the group consisting of ethylene carbonate, 1, 2 or 1, 3-propylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, dipropyl carbonate, dibutyl carbonate or diisobutyl carbonate ,

4. Use according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that the alcohol (C _x ) with more than 2 OH groups is selected from the group consisting of glycerol, diglycerol, triglycerol, trimethylolethane, trimethylolpropane, 1, 2,4-butanetriol , Pentae- rythrit, tris (hydroxyethyl) isocyanurate and their polyetherols based on ethylene oxide and / or propylene oxide with an average of 1 to 40 alkylene oxide units per initiator termolekül.

5. Use according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) is derived from saturated or unsaturated fatty acids having 12 to 22 carbon atoms.

6. Use according to claim 5, characterized in that the fatty acid amide alkoxylate (D) is derived from fatty acids selected from the group consisting of stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid or linolenic acid.

7. Use according to claim 6, characterized in that the fatty acid amide alkoxylate is an oleic acid ethoxylate having on average 8 to 12 ethylene oxide units.