Applications of Surfactants

D. Karsa, ed.. Industrial Applications of Surfactants, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1987. 

Other solubilization and partitioning phenomena are important, both within the context of microemulsions and in the absence of added immiscible solvent. In regular micellar solutions, micelles promote the solubility of many compounds otherwise insoluble in water. The amount of chemical component solubilized in a micellar solution will, typically, be much smaller than can be accommodated in microemulsion fonnation, such as when only a few molecules per micelle are solubilized. Such limited solubilization is nevertheless quite useful. The incoriDoration of minor quantities of pyrene and related optical probes into micelles are a key to the use of fluorescence depolarization in quantifying micellar aggregation numbers and micellar microviscosities [48]. Micellar solubilization makes it possible to measure acid-base or electrochemical properties of compounds otherwise insoluble in aqueous solution. Micellar solubilization facilitates micellar catalysis (see section C2.3.10) and emulsion polymerization (see section C2.3.12). On the other hand, there are untoward effects of micellar solubilization in practical applications of surfactants. Wlren one has a multiphase... 

The production of organic polymeric particles in tire size range of 30-300 nm by emulsion polymerization has become an important teclmological application of surfactants and micelles. Emulsion polymerization is very well and extensively reviewed in many monographs and texts [67, 68], but we want to briefly illustrated tire role of micelles in tliis important process. 

J. Falbe (ed.), Surfactants in Consumer Products, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987 see also J. A. Milne, in Industrial Applications of Surfactants II (D. R. Karsa, ed.), Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 1990. 

M. J. Rosen, Special Publication - Royal Society of Chemistry (1999), 230 (Industrial Applications of Surfactants IV), 151-161. 

At a given NaCI concentration, an increase in temperature resulted in an increase in interfacial tension. In contrast, for a narrow range of CaCI concentrations, interfacial tensions decreased with increasing temperatures. Changes of the amphiphile at the oil/water interface accounted for some of the experimental observations. Since the extent of oil desaturation is dependent on interfacial tension, the tension data could be used to assess the ability of surfactants to reduce oil saturations in the reservoir for application of surfactants and foams to thermal recovery processes. 

Chemical processing industries (CPI) application of surfactants in, 24 119 electroless deposition in, 9 699-700 energy and, 10 134-137 24 165-167 environmental impact assessment and, 10 228-229 German, 24 253—254 globalization of, 24 263 heat pipes in, 13 237-240 hydrogen in, 13 797-798 materials and processes in, 24 167-176 metrics for assessment in, 24 179 natural gas in, 12 383-385 quality control in, 21 159-164 regional economic patterns in,... 

KarsaDR (1987) Industrial applications of surfactants an overview. In Proceedings of a Symposium Organized by the North West Region of the Industrial Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of Salford, 15-17th April, special publication no 59... 

T0436 IT Corporation, Direct Application of Surfactants T0441 IT Corporation, Hybrid Thermal Treatment System (HTTS)... 

IT Corporation (IT) conducted a critical evaluation of the direct application of surfactants to petroleum-contaminated soil to increase biological removal of the hydrocarbons. The technology... 

The increase in microbe populations that can be caused by direct application of surfactants leads to an increased need for oxygen (an increase in the biological oxygen demand, or BOD). This increased demand for oxygen was handled in a laboratory-scale experiment where the soil was easily mixed each day for aeration however, it was implied that oxygen could act as a limiting factor in a full-scale apphcation where aeration would be more difficult. 

TABLE 1 Additional Costs of Direct Application of Surfactants to 2500 ib of Soii... 

The application of surfactants can enhance remediation or recovery of contaminants by increasing their mobility and solubility. Surfactants can thus be used to enhance ex situ soil washing, in situsoil flushing, non-aqueous-phase liquid (NAPE) pump-and-treat applications, and in situbiodegradation. Cationic surfactants have been shown to improve the capacity of soil... 

Efforts have been made by many research workers in the past to modify or suppress the phase-transition of AN by phase stabilizing it with the help of some suitable chemical compounds induced in the AN lattice or by modifying its properties with the application of surfactants, or by changing the method of preparation of AN itself in order to make it acceptable for use in propellant formulations. 

T. Mizunuma, M. Iizuda, and K. Izumi, Industrial Applications of Surfactants , Royal Chemistry Society, London, 1990, pp. 101—113. 

Graves, D. Leavitt, M. (1991). Petroleum biodegradation in soil the effect of direct application of surfactants. Remediation, 2, 147-66. 

In tile application of surfactants, physical and use properties, precisely specified, are of primary concern. Chemical homogeneity is of little significance in practice. In fact, surfactants are generally polydisperse mixtures, such as the natural fats as precursors of fatty acid-derived surfactant structures e.g., coconut oil contains glycerol esters of Cc-Qa fatly acids. Nonionic surfactants of die alcohol edioxylate type are polydisperse not only with respect to the hydrophobe but also in the number of edivlene oxide units attached. 

Practical applications of surfactants usually involve some manner of surfactant adsorption on a solid surface. This adsorption is always associated with a decrease in free-surface energy, the magnitude of which must be determined indirectly. The force with which the adsorbate is held on the adsorbent may be roughly classified as physical, ionic, or chemical. Physical adsorption is a weak attraction caused primarily by van der Waals forces. Ionic adsorption occurs between charged sites on the substrate and oppositely charged surfactant ions, and is usually a strong attractive force. The term chemisorption is applied when the adsorbate is joined to the adsorbent by covalent bonds or forces of comparable strength. 

Sutton, J.R. Formulation of Industrial Hygiene Products Art or Science in Industrial Applications of Surfactants, Karsa, D.R. (Ed.), Royal Soc. Chem. London, 1987, pp. 208-234. 

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