Demulsification of bitumen emulsions

Claim 2

A process for recovering petroleum from oil-in-water bitumen emulsions by demulsifying said emulsions by adding thereto demulsifiers comprising hompolymers or co-polymers of greater than about 2,000 molecular weight of monomers having the general structure ##STR8## where R=H or lower alkyl, X=NH or 0, n>1, R 1 and R 2 are hydrogen or alkyl wherein the homopolymer and/or co-polymer is in the salt form and monomers of the above structure comprise greater than 50% of the total co-polymer where a co-polymer is used.

Claim 3

A process as in claim 1 wherein the demulsifier is a homopolymer.

Claim 4

A process as in claim 1 wherein the demulsifier is a co-polymer.

Claim 5

A process for recovering petroleum from O/W bitumen emulsions by demulsifying said emulsions by adding thereto demulsifiers comprising homopolymers or co-polymers of greater than about 2,000 molecular weight of monomers having the general structure ##STR9## where R, R 1 and R 2 are all CH 3 , X=NH and n=3 wherein the homopolymer and/or co-polymer is in the salt form and monomers of the above structure comprise greater than 50% of the total co-polymer where a copolymer is used.

Claim 6

A process for recovering petroleum from O/W bitumen emulsions by demulsifying said emulsions by adding thereto demulsifiers comprising homopolymers or co-polymers of greater than about 2,000 molecular weight of monomers having the general structure ##STR9## where R, R 1 and R 2 are all CH 3 , X=NH and n=3 wherein the homopolymer and/or co-polymer is in the salt form and monomers of the above structure comprise greater than 50% of the total co-polymer where a copolymer is used.

Claim 7

A process as in claim 4 where the demulsifier is a homopolymer.

Claim 8

A process as in claim 4 wherein the demulsifier is a co-polymer.

Claim 9

A process for recovering petroleum from O/W bitumen emulsions by demulsifying said emulsions by adding thereto demulsifiers comprising homopolymers or co-polymers of greater than about 2,000 molecular weight of monomers having the general structure ##STR10## where R 1 and R 2 =CH 3 , X=0, and n=1 wherein the homopolymer and/or co-polymer is in the salt form and monomers of the above structure comprise greater than 50% of the total co-polymer where a co-polymer is used.

Claim 10

A process for recovering petroleum from O/W bitumen emulsions by demulsifying said emulsions by adding thereto demulsifiers comprising homopolymers or co-polymers of greater than about 2,000 molecular weight of monomers having the general structure ##STR10## where R 1 and R 2 =CH 3 , X=0, and n=1 wherein the homopolymer and/or co-polymer is in the salt form and monomers of the above structure comprise greater than 50% of the total co-polymer where a co-polymer is used.

Claim 11

A process as in claim 7 wherein the demulsifier is a homopolymer.

Claim 12

A process as in claim 7 wherein the demulsifier is a co-polymer.

Claim 13

A process for recovering bitumen from a tar sand formation comprising injecting into the tar sand a fluid containing hot water and/or steam in order to emulsify the bitumen in the tar sand, recovering the emulsified bitumen, demulsifying said emulsions by adding thereto demulsifiers comprising homopolymers or co-polymers of greater than about 2,000 molecular weight of monomers having the general structure ##STR11## where R=H or lower alkyl, X=NH or 0, n>1, R 1 and R 2 are hydrogen or alkyl wherein the homopolymer and/or co-polymer is in the salt form and monomers of the above structure comprise greater than 50% of the total co-polymer where a co-polymer is used, converting the salts of the polymers or co-polymers into inactive polymers or co-polymers by pH adjustment of the aqueous phase of the broken emulsion, and reinjecting the aqueous phase into a bitumen containing formation to recover additional bitumen.

Claim 14

A process for recovering bitumen from a tar sand formation comprising injecting into the tar sand a fluid containing hot water and/or steam in order to emulsify the bitumen in the tar sand, recovering the emulsified bitumen, demulsifying said emulsions by adding thereto demulsifiers comprising homopolymers or co-polymers of greater than about 2,000 molecular weight of monomers having the general structure ##STR11## where R=H or lower alkyl, X=NH or 0, n>1, R 1 and R 2 are hydrogen or alkyl wherein the homopolymer and/or co-polymer is in the salt form and monomers of the above structure comprise greater than 50% of the total co-polymer where a co-polymer is used, converting the salts of the polymers or co-polymers into inactive polymers or co-polymers by pH adjustment of the aqueous phase of the broken emulsion, and reinjecting the aqueous phase into a bitumen containing formation to recover additional bitumen.