Chapter 3
A comparison of samples 1 and 3 with samples 2 and 4 shows that
coalescence is much more significant with added PR5, which shows that PR5 can
accelerate emulsion coalescence. A comparison of samples 2 and 4 shows that
the solids in sample 2 prohibit complete separation and form a middle rag layer,
which is the focus of further studies.
If profile measurements are performed over time, the evolution of the
emulsion such as the sedimentation and coalescence can be obtained from the
results. From these profile results, water fraction profile can be obtained from the
profile results if some simple assumptions are valid:
1 ) T1 for oil, water droplet and bulk water can be considered as distinct single
values. Thus Eq. [3.34] can be used for water fraction calculation.
2) The changes of T↑ during the time can be ignored. Thus the experiment
data of fresh homogeneous emulsion can be used to calibrate for other
emulsions.
3) In the samples without PR5, emulsion coalescence is insignificant. These
samples contain only water-in-oil emulsion. In the samples with PR5, emulsified
water coexists with either clean oil or free water, but not both. On the top is clean
oil and emulsified water, at the bottom is W∕O∕W emulsion (microscopy
observation is shown in section 2.6) and free water.
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