Impact of Pre-equilibration on the Assessment Methodology of Interfacial Tension Measured between Aqueous and Heavy Oil Phases
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- 作者：M. Sharath Chandra ; Jose Zacharia ; Geza Horvath-Szabo
- 刊名：Energy & Fuels
- 出版年：2011
- 出版时间：June 16, 2011
- 年：2011
- 卷：25
- 期：6
- 页码：2542-2550
- 全文大小：874K
- 年卷期：v.25,no.6(June 16, 2011)
- ISSN：1520-5029
文摘
Equilibrium interfacial tension (IFT) between toluene-diluted bitumen and a series of alkyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant solutions was measured at various temperatures as a function of the carbon chain length of surfactants. A mixing and separating protocol to pre-equilibrate the aqueous and organic phases was introduced prior to the measurements. The influence of the equilibrated phase densities on the IFT values obtained by the pendant drop method is discussed. A possible systematic error in the assessment of the IFT values with the pendant drop and spinning drop methodologies was pointed out. In general, bitumen鈥揳queous phase IFTs increase with an increase in the temperature and decrease with an increase in the carbon chain length of the surfactants. During the equilibration process of the bitumen and aqueous phases, the phase densities change significantly, which has implications on the gravity drainage process.