Patent ID: 7569615

Claim:
A method for demulsifying an oil/water emulsion, said method comprising adding an alkoxylated dendrimer to said oil/water emulsion in an amount from 0.0001 to 5% by weight, based on the oil content of the emulsion to be demulsified, said alkoxylated dendrimer being a dendritic polyester having a molecular weight of from 2400 to 100 000 g/mol, the molecular weight determined by GPC using polyethylene as standard, said dendritic polyester being alkoxylated with C 2 -C 4 -alkylene oxide groups or a mixture of C 2 -C 4 -alkylene oxide groups to provide the alkoxylated dendrimer with an average degree of alkoxylation of from 1 to 100 alkylene oxide units per free OH group, wherein the dendritic polyester has a starting alcohol and a dendritic growth component, said starting alcohol is selected from the group consisting of a mono-alcohol, di-alcohol, and polyfunctional alcohol, and the dendritic growth component is a carboxylic acid which has at least two hydroxyl groups.