SURFACTANT-OIL-WATER SYSTEMS NEAR THE AFFINITY INVERSION: PART VI: EMULSIONS HITH VISCOUS HYDROCARBONS

Abstract

The phase behavior of surfactant-water-viscous oil systems is studied as well as the properties of the corresponding emulsions. The oil viscosity is increased up to 1000 cP by using different hydrocarbon mixtures. This change implies a variation in the Equivalent Alkane Carbon Number (EACN), which is compensated in order to maintain a comparable formulation.

When the oil viscosity increases, the A+ region, which exhibits stable w/o emulsions with medium to high internal phase ratio, tends to shrink, and finally vanishes when the viscosity exceeds 50-100 cP; the inversion line on a formulation-WOR map exhibits a shift of its A+/C+ branch; the remaining of the inversion line, as well as the general phenomenology concerning the emulsion properties, still follows the patterns found with light hydrocarbons.