Oil penetration into aqueous media results in various chemical and physical processes including formation of “oil-in-water” emulsions, that have devastating effects on the environment. This research was conducted to evaluate the kinetics of permeation of “oil-in-water” emulsions into synthetic porous material. It gives the ability to develop more effective sorbents, decreasing risks of negative consequences and environmental contamination. The following publication focuses on assessment of the possibility to describe and predict a process of porous medium imbibition with emulsions by means of the Hill equation. Its adequacy is compared with the classical Lucas–Washburn equation and its modified version. The advanced approach is to substitute the commonly used parameter of the height of an imbibed emulsion (h(t)) by the parameter mh(t), which is the mass of an imbibed emulsion in the case of the classical and modified Washburn equations. According to the obtained results, the Hill equation provides the most appropriate and precise description of the porous material imbibition with “oil-in-water” emulsions and oil in comparison with others, and shows the highest correlation values (Rav = 0.995±0.001) and the lowest normalized root mean square error (NRMSEav 1.95±0.138).
The stabilized emulsions removal from the aqueous systems is supposed to be an issue as important as the free oil products recovery. This work was conducted to investigate the mechanisms of oil-in-water emulsions sorption in a non-woven oleophilic/hydrophobic material forced by the capillary suction pressure, and the saturation level of such material during this process. It ensures the effective application of the sorbents and facilitates the development of alternative high-performance sorptive materials that can contribute to diminishing of the negative consequences of the aquatic environment contamination. The main aspect investigated in this research work was kinetics of the imbibition process in the porous media to define the optimal time of sorption and the height of the emulsions penetration. The measurement of the dispersed phase concentration changes with the increase in an emulsion front in the porous medium using the nephelometrical method is the advanced approach in the field of assessment of sorbents efficiency. The tendency of the imbibed emulsion concentration decrease versus the height was observed, which depended strongly on the viscosity and the initial composition of a penetrating liquid. The observed process was described by the mathematical model based on Hill equation.
The issue discussed in the current publication is a process of emulsions penetration in the granular media driven by the capillary force. The research work focuses on the study of rate and height of multiphase liquids penetration in a porous bed. Changes of the medium porosity and saturation level occurring as a result of pores obstruction by the droplets of an inner phase, were considered. The surfactant-stabilized emulsions with the different dispersed phase concentrations were investigated applying a classical wicking test. The modified version of Kozeny-Carman theory was proposed in order to describe the observed imbibition process in porous structures composed of spherical grains. This approach allowed to predict transport of emulsions considering an effect of bed saturation and porosity changes. In practice, the introduced concept can be appropriable in the numerous industries and scientific fields to predict the imbibition process of the multiphase liquids in granular structures regarding variation of the investigated bed permeability.
Abstract. The spontaneous imbibition has been a subject of the scientific interest being a background process for numerous industrial technologies and occurring in the natural environment. In literature the experimental and theoretical results regarding this phenomenon describe a media imbibition with single-phase liquids and the relation between the process rate and media characteristics. The imbibition of oleophilic porous structures with two-phase liquids, only one phase of which was wetting, is an objective of the current publication. The main purpose is to estimate the influence of both surfactant fraction and the dispersed phase concentration on the mentioned process. The imbibition rate was investigated during model experiments with stabilized oil-in-water emulsions having the dispersed phase concentrations of 10 vol%, 30 vol% and 50 vol%. The prepared emulsions differed with fraction of the added surfactant, i.e. 1 vol%, 2 vol% and 5 vol%. The obtained results allowed to conclude that at the him≥0.02 m, the dispersed phase concentration and viscosity decreased versus height. However, the raise of the surfactant fraction caused the increase of mass and height of the imbibed emulsions in porous medium. Moreover, this provided increasing of viscosity and a change of emulsions behaviour as a liquid.
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