Influence of Surfactant Concentration in the Emulsions on the Process of Oleophilic/Hydrophobic Porous Medium Imbibition

Abstract

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 the media imbibition with single-phase liquids and the relation between the process rate and media characteristics. The imbibition of oleophilic/hydrophobic 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 the dispersed phase concentration and surfactant fraction on the discussed process. The imbibition rate was investigated during model experiments with stabilized oil-in-water emulsions, which had dispersed phase concentrations of 10 vol%, 30 vol%, and 50.vol%. The prepared emulsions differed by the fraction of the added surfactant, i.e. 1.vol%, 2.vol%, and 5 vol%. The obtained results allowed to conclude that at the h im ≥0.02 m, the dispersed phase concentration and viscosity decreased versus the height. However, the raise of the surfactant fraction caused the increase of mass and height of the imbibed emulsions in porous medium. Moreover, it provided the increase of viscosity and the change of emulsions behaviour as a liquid.