A detailed analysis of the dynamic adsorption of crude oil components dissolved in produced water onto air bubble surfaces is presented. Nine different crude oils were used to prepare synthetic produced water samples. The total organic carbon content, molecular mass and dynamic surface tension was determined for the samples. The experimental data were applied in a modified version of the Warcl-Tordai model, in order to evaluate the adsorption mechanism. This allowed for determination of characteristic diffusion coefficients and investigation of adsorption mechanisms. All the crude oils contained water soluble components within a relatively narrow range of molecular size, but different polarity. The adsorption mechanism was purely diffusion controlled at short time scales regardless of the chemical composition of the crude oil. Further analyses were performed on two of the uncle oils by selectively extracting interfacially active components (acids and bases) from the crude oils. Both acidic and basic compounds were present in the produced water samples, but their affinity for the air/water interface varied. There were no correlation between the amount of acids and bases in the crude oils and the solubility and surface activity of the respective water soluble fractions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,