Breaking of Emulsions with Chemical Additives: Using Surrogate Fluids to Develop a Novel Theoretical Framework and Its Application to Water-in-Crude Oil Emulsions.

ABSTRACT: We investigate the role of adding a water-soluble surfactant (Tween 20) that acts as a demulsifier on the stability of water-in-dodecane emulsions stabilized with Span 80. Performing bottle test experiments, we monitor the emulsion separation process. Initially, water droplets sediment fast (∼10 min) until they become closely packed and form the so-called dense packed layer (DPL). The presence of the DPL, a long-lived metastable high-water-fraction (70-90%) emulsion separating bulk oil and water layers, slows down significantly the kinetics (∼10⁵ min) of water separation. Once the DPL is formed, the ratio of the volume of separated water to the total water amount is called as water separation efficiency. We assume that the emulsion stability is reached when the coverage of the e

SUBMITTER: Dinh HH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8552343 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature