Alcohol ethoxylate derivatives, foaming

Secondary alcohol ethoxylates derived from n-paraffins should, therefore, find wide and long term demand because of their safety and low skin irritation, and the increasing demands for liquid and low foam detergents. 

Correlation equations relating surfactant chemical structure to performance characteristics and physical properties have been established. One atmosphere foaming properties of alcohol ethoxyl-ates and alcohol ethoxylate derivatives have been related to surfactant hydrophobe carbon chain length, ethylene oxide content, aqueous phase salinity, and temperature. Similar correlations have been established for critical micelle concentration, surfactant cloud point, and surfactant adsorption. 

Foam exhibits higher apparent viscosity and lower mobility within permeable media than do its separate constituents.(1-3) This lower mobility can be attained by the presence of less than 0.1% surfactant in the aqueous fluid being injected.(4) The foaming properties of surfactants and other properties relevant to surfactant performance in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes are dependent upon surfactant chemical structure. Alcohol ethoxylates and alcohol ethoxylate derivatives were chosen to study techniques of relating surfactant performance parameters to chemical structure. These classes of surfactants have been evaluated as mobility control agents in laboratory studies (see references 5 and 6 and references therein). One member of this class of surfactants has been used in three field trials.(7-9) These particular surfactants have well defined structures and chemical structure variables can be assigned numerical values. Commercial products can be manufactured in relatively high purity. 

Alcohol ethoxylates and alcohol ethoxylate derivatives were chosen for study based on their predicted foaming properties, thermal and chemical stability, salinity tolerance, and adsorption characteristics. Table 1 illustrates the classes of surfactants used and the shorthand surfactant naming system employed. Except when noted, surfactants were developmental ENORDET surfactants from Shell Chemical Company or were research samples synthesized in our laboratory or at Koninlijke/Shell Laboratorium, Amsterdam. AES 810-2.6A was obtained from GAF Corporation. 

Examination of the data summarized in Table 2 indicated that, for a constant hydrophobe carbon number (HCN), foam stability generally increased as the number of ethylene oxide (EO) groups in the surfactant was increased. This was true for alcohol ethoxylates and three classes of alcohol ethoxylate derivatives. Data reported in references 5 and 11 is consistent with this observation. 

Foaming properties of alcohol ethoxylates and alcohol ethoxylate derivatives are related to chemical structure features such as hydrophobe size and linearity, ethylene oxide chain length, and the terminating group at the end of the ethylene oxide chain. Foaming properties may be mathematically related to chemical structure parameters using multiple correlation analysis. ... 

Ethoxylates derived from essentially linear alcohols produced by the above processes have been shown in many extensive studies (3-10) to biodegrade rapidly to products which do not foam or show toxicity to aquatic life. 

Various anionic derivatives of alcohol ethoxylates have been shown to possess improved saline media foaming properties in the... 

Biodegradable ethoxylates derived from ALFOL Alcohol blends essentially 100% active used for sulfation to produce high quality ether sulfate surfactants and used directly as biodegable surfactants, emulsifiers, detergents, foaming agents and cleaners. 

Tertiary oil was increased up to 41% over conventional CO2 recovery by means of mobility control where a carefully selected surfactant structure was used to form an in situ foam. Linear flow oil displacement tests were performed for both miscible and immiscible floods. Mobility control was achieved without detracting from the C02-oil interaction that enhances recovery. Surfactant selection is critical in maximizing performance. Several tests were combined for surfactant screening, included were foam tests, dynamic flow tests through a porous bed pack and oil displacement tests. Ethoxylated aliphatic alcohols, their sulfate derivatives and ethylene oxide - propylene oxide copolymers were the best performers in oil reservoir brines. One sulfonate surfactant also proved to be effective especially in low salinity injection fluid. 

Alcohols are hydrocarbon derivatives with hydroxy groups. Primary long-chain C o-Cig alcohols are the most interesting compounds as surfactants. They exhibit all the properties of nonionics with the exception of micelle formation in aqueous solution. Higher aliphatic alcohols are better soluble in oils than in water. They are widely used as co-surfactants/ emulsifiers and foam stabilizers in aqueous solutions of anionic surfactants. Furthermore, alcohols serve as an intermediate raw material in manufacturing water-soluble surfactants, such as ethoxylated products and ether sulphates [7-11]. 

Other rosin derivatives expand the range of rosin markets. For example, the alcohol derivatives are used in plastic heat stabilizers, ethoxylated amines are used in corrosion prevention and specialty cleaning, and polyols are used for polyurethane foams. Amines (dehydroabietylamine) are used as antimicrobials (fungicides, bactericides, and algicides), as cationic ore flotation agents, and in the laboratory as a resolving agent for racemic mixtures. 

These surfactants show poorer wetting and foaming properties in comparison with alcohol derived nonionics. Emulsifying properties are excellent. In general, esters and lower ethoxylates are appropriate for w/o dispersions while higher ethoxylates are more suitable emulsifiers for o/w dispersions. 

Waxes, e. g., ester waxes and ethoxylated wax alcohols, are used in water-based systems. - Metallic soaps are widely used in plastics processing (- plastics additives) and in injection molding of polyurethane foams as internal lubricants and r. - Fats and oils and some of their ester derivatives can be used also if the processing temperature is below 150 °C. They are mainly used in woodworking and in food applications (- food additives). 

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