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Download filePhenomenological continuum theory of asphaltene-stabilized oil/water emulsions
journal contribution
posted on 2017-11-03, 11:27 authored by Gyula TothGyula Toth, Juri Selvag, Bjorn KvammeIn this paper we use a phenomenological continuum theory of the Ginzburg-Landau
type to address emulsion formation in water/light hydrocarbon/asphaltene systems.
Based on the results of recent molecular dynamics simulations, we first calibrate the
model parameters and show, that the theory produces a reasonable equation of state.
Next, the coalescence of oil droplets is studied by a convection-diffusion dynamics as
a function of both the surface coverage and the viscosity contrast between the as-
phaltene and the bulk liquids. We show, that, besides the traditional thermodynamic
interpretation of emulsion formation, the timescale of drop coalescence can be con-
trolled independently from the interfacial tension drop, which offers an alternative,
solely kinetic driven mechanism of emulsion formation.
Funding
This work has been supported by the VISTA basic research programme project No. 6359 "Surfactants for water/CO2/hydrocarbon emulsions for combined CO2 storage and utilization" of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Statoil.
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