Emulsification design

Apphcation chemists are most interested in physical and functional properties contributed by the sulfonate moiety, such as solubility, emulsification, wetting, foaming, and detersive properties. Products can be designed to meet various criteria including water solubility, water dispersibility, and oil solubility. The polar SO moiety contributes detersive properties to lube oil sulfonates and dry-cleaning sulfonates. 

Excessive mixing Limit agitator power input and provide proper of reactants or impeller design impurities which, Return process to pilot or development to rede-promotes process to eliminate or minimize this emulsification. problem Poor phase separa- tion resulting in L it shaft speed problems in subse- Monitor shaft speed quent processing, phase separation steps or in down- stream equipment. I" " de-emulsifiers CCPS G-29 Lees 1996... 

The emulsion blocking mechanism involves formation of emulsion in the pores either by self-emulsification of water-based filtrate with the crude oil, or oil filtrate from an oil-based fluid emulsifying formation water. The emulsions are viscous and can block the pores. The remedial design is to prevent emulsification either by eliminating oil from completion fluid or by the use of demulsifiers. 

High pressure homogenizers are especially suitable for the emulsification processes in the food, pharmaceutical and bioprocess industries. A general disadvantage of these type of reactors is that there is no precise control over the cavitationally active volume and the magnitude of the pressure pulses that will be generated at the end of the cavitation events (cavitational intensity), unless the valve seat designs are substantially modified. 

Large-scale ultrasonic irradiation is extant technology. Liquid processing rates of 200 liters/minute are routinely accessible from a variety of modular, in-line designs with acoustic power of several kW per unit (83). The industrial uses of these units include (1) degassing of liquids, (2) dispersion of solids into liquids, (3) emulsification of immiscible liquids, and (4) large-scale cell disruption (74). While these units are of limited use for most laboratory research, they are of potential importance in eventual industrial application of sonochemical reactions. 

One of the most important advantages of the bio-based processes is operation under mild conditions however, this also poses a problem for its integration into conventional refining processes. Another issue is raised by the water solubility of the biocatalysts and the biocatalyst miscibility in oil. The development of new reactor designs, product or by-product recovery schemes and oil-water separation systems is, therefore, quite important in enabling commercialization. Emulsification is thus a necessary step in the process however, it should be noted that highly emulsified oil can pose significant downstream separation problems. 

Wieringa, J.A. Dieren, F. van Janssen, J.J.M. Agterof, W.G.M., 1996, Droplet breakup mechanisms during emulsification in colloid mills at high dispersed phase volume fraction, Chemical Engineering Research Design, 74, 554-562. 

Y. Sela, S. Magdassi, and N. Garti Newly Designed Polysiloxane-Graft-Poly (Oxyethylene) Copolymeric Surfactants Preparation, Surface Activity and Emulsification Properties. Colloid Polym. Sci. 272, 684 (1994). 

The initial emulsification studies employed a 1 L reactor vessel with baffles originally designed for fermentation processes. Subsequent studies were successively scaled up from 1 L to 3, 10, and 100 L. Variations due to differences in reactor configuration were minimized by utilizing geometrically similar reactors with approximately the same D/Tratio (i.e., 0.36-0.40). Maa and Hsu contended that separate experiments on the effect of the baffle area... 

The goal of food emulsion manufacturers is to produce emulsions that meet or exceed the expectations of their clientele. As a first step, companies typically conduct market studies to determine what these expectations are. Sensory evaluations are then used to translate these expectations into product-specific criteria (e.g., emulsion color, texture, appearance) that serve as guidelines to design the emulsification process and verify the quality of the produced emulsion. If emulsion properties comply with the set standards (i.e., their values are within an acceptable range), manufacturers can be confident that their customer base will be satisfied with the product. 

Challenges in this field include the need for higher productivity, membranes and modules specifically designed for the emulsification process, modules construction standardization, and design of innovative intensified processes. 

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