water-soluble demulsifiers destroy "oil-in-water" emulsions through the following mechanisms:

1. : Many "oil-in-water" emulsions have a negative charge on the surface of the oil droplets and are stable due to mutual repulsion. Cationic water-soluble demulsifiers can be adsorbed on the surface of oil droplets, neutralize their charges, eliminate repulsive forces, and make oil droplets more likely to collide and merge.
   Adsorption and replacement of

2. : Demulsifier molecules can be strongly adsorbed on the oil-water interface, replacing natural emulsifiers (such as asphaltenes, colloids) or artificial emulsifiers that originally stabilizing emulsions from the interface. The new interfacial film has low strength and is easy to be destroyed.

   "Reverse phase" destruction

3. : In some cases, the demulsifier can change the type of emulsion from "oil-in-water" to "water-in-oil". In this process, the stability of the emulsion is completely destroyed, So as to achieve oil-water separation.
   Flocculation and coalescence of

4. : demulsifier can make tiny oil droplets gather (flocculation) into larger oil droplets, and large oil droplets quickly float to the water surface due to buoyancy, forming oil layer, so as to realize separation.