Patent ID: 8796433

Claim:
A method for demulsifying an emulsion comprising an aqueous phase and an organic phase, comprising (a) adding an effective amount of a composition to an emulsion comprising an aqueous phase and an organic phase to at least partially separate the aqueous phase from the organic phase, the composition comprising at least one quaternary organopolysiloxane or salt thereof, wherein the quaternary organopolysiloxane or salt thereof is represented by Formulae (I) or (II): (R—O)—CH 2 CH(OH)CH 2 —R′ (I) (R—O)—C(O)CH 2 —R′ (II) wherein R is wherein A is selected from the group consisting of: a bond, —(CH 2 CH 2 O) x —, —(CH 2 CH(CH 3 )O) y —, and combinations thereof; a is an integer from 0 to 200; b is an integer, from 0 to 200; c is an integer from 1 to 200; each R 1 , if present, is selected from —(CH 2 ) n CH 3 and phenyl wherein n is an integer from 0 to 10; each R 2 , if present, is —(CH 2 ) 3 —(OCH 2 CH 2 ) x —(OCH 2 CH(CH 3 )) y —(OCH 2 CH 2 ) z —OH; R′ is selected from: wherein R 3 , R 4 , and R 5 are each independently alkyl having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and X is an ion selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, CH 3 SO 4 and CH 3 CH 2 SO 4 ; wherein R 6 is alkyl having from 6 to 20 carbon atoms; R 7 and R 8 are independently selected from the group consisting of methyl and ethyl; and n′ is an integer from 1 to 5, and X is an ion selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, CH 3 SO 4 and CH 3 CH 2 SO 4 ; and wherein R 9 is alkyl having from 6 to 20 carbon atoms; and v is an integer from 1 to 5, and X is an ion selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, CH 3 SO 4 and CH 3 CH 2 SO 4 ; and each x, y and z are independently selected integers each ranging from 0 to 20, wherein the emulsion comprises one or more components selected from the group consisting of bioproducts, microorganisms, enzymes, proteins, lipids, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, amino acids and mixtures thereof, wherein the emulsion is the product of biological or bioproduct fermentation and wherein the organic phase comprises at least one organic solvent.