Tolman's δ, Surface Curvature, Compressibility Effects, and the Free Energy of Drops

Abstract

An extension of a treatment by Laaksonen and McGraw leads to an analytical expression for the variation of Tolman's δ with drop size. According to this approach, the change in sign of δ as a drop becomes large is a consequence of compressibility. An expression for the reversible work to produce a small drop from bulk liquid is given that corrects conventional expressions for effects of compressibility and Tolman's δ. It is shown, however, that when this expression is applied to the formation of a drop from the supersaturated vapor, the reversible work, W rev‘, in excess of volume work no longer explicitly involves the Tolman δ or the compressibility, in agreement with treatments by Gibbs and by Debenedetti and Reiss. Nevertheless, if the expression for W rev‘ is to be related to directly measurable quantities, compressibility and δ still play a role.

Wettability Alteration of Porous Media to Gas-Wetting for Improving Productivity and Injectivity in Gas-Liquid Flows

“…We have performed a number of imbibition tests with the treated and untreated cores in nC 10 , nC 14 , and nC 16 and a natural gas condensate liquid. Imbibition testes for nC 14 and nC 16 were also carried out at elevated temperatures of 100 0 C and 140 0 C. An experimental polymer synthesized for the purpose of this project was used in core treatment.…”

“…Imbibition testes for nC 14 and nC 16 were also carried out at elevated temperatures of 100 0 C and 140 0 C. An experimental polymer synthesized for the purpose of this project was used in core treatment.…”

“…Fluids -We used normal decane (nC 10 ), normal tetradecane (nC 14 ), and normal hexadecane (nC 16 ), BP condensate, water, air, and nitrogen. The polymer used is an experimental surfactant synthesized for the purpose of this project by 3M.…”

“…Normal hexadecane (nC 16 ) has a specific gravity of 0.77 at 24 o C and 0.68 at 140 o C. Its viscosity and surface tension at 24 o C are 4.2 cp and 28 dyne/cm, respectively.…”

“…Polymer L-16349 is very safe from environmental considerations and it is economical for our purpose. In this work, in addition to nC 10 , and nC 14 , we used two other liquids nC 16 , and a liquid condensate in order to study the effect of wettability alteration with a broader range of fluids.…”