Phase behavior pressure effects

In two-phase systems, however, where surfactant and water can partition between a fluid and a liquid phase, significant pressure effects occur. These effects were studied for AOT in ethane and propane by means of the absorption probe pyridine N-oxide and a fluorescence probe, ANS (8-anilino-l-naphthalenesulfonic acid) [20]. The UV absorbance of pyridine A-oxide is related to the interior polarity of reverse micelles, whereas the fluorescence behavior of ANS is an indicator of the freedom of motion of water molecules within reverse micelle water pools. In contrast to the blue-shift behavior of pyridine N-oxide, the emission maximum of ANS increases ( red shift ) as polarity and water motion around the molecule increase. At low pressures the interior polarity, degree of water motion, and absorbance intensity are all low for AOT reverse micelles in the fluid phase because only small amounts of surfactant and water are in solution. As pressure increases, polarity, intensity, and water motion all increase rapidly as large amounts of surfactant and water partition to the fluid phase. The data indicate that the surfactant partitions ahead of the water thus there is a constant increase in size and fluidity of the reverse micelle water pools up to the one-phase point. An example of such behavior is shown in Fig. 4 for AOT in propane with a total fVo of 40. The change in the ANS emission maximum suggests a continuous increase in water mobility, which is due to increasing fVo in the propane phase, up to the one-phase point at 200 bar. 

These fiigacity effects simply conespond to gas-phase driving force reductions resulting from nonideal gas-phase behavior. Such effects clearly will l ome more substantial as higher total system pressures are considered in COj-containing systems. Conversely, such effects will be relatively unimportant for mixtures containing only supercritical, relatively ideal components. 

In view of the above developments, it is now possible to formulate theories of the complex phase behavior and critical phenomena that one observes in stractured continua. Furthermore, there is currently little data on the transport properties, rheological characteristics, and thermomechaiucal properties of such materials, but the thermodynamics and dynamics of these materials subject to long-range interparticle interactions (e.g., disjoiiung pressure effects, phase separation, and viscoelastic behavior) can now be approached systematically. Such studies will lead to sigiuficant intellectual and practical advances. 

Influence of subphase temperature, pH, and molecular structure of the lipids on their phase behavior can easily be studied by means of this method. The effect of chain length and structure of polymerizable and natural lecithins is illustrated in Figure 5. At 30°C distearoyllecithin is still fully in the condensed state (33), whereas butadiene lecithin (4), which carries the same numEer of C-atoms per alkyl chain, is already completely in the expanded state (34). Although diacetylene lecithin (6) bears 26 C-atoms per chain, it forms both an expanded and a condensed phase at 30°C. The reason for these marked differences is the disturbance of the packing of the hydrophobic side chains by the double and triple bonds of the polymerizable lipids. At 2°C, however, all three lecithins are in the condensed state. Chapman (27) reports about the surface pressure area isotherms of two homologs of (6) containing 23 and 25 C-atoms per chain. These compounds exhibit expanded phases even at subphase temperatures as low as 7°C. 

Skauge A, Fotland P (1990) Effect of Pressure and Temperature on the Phase Behavior of Microemulsions. SPE Reserv Engin 5 601-608... 

Fig. 35. Effect of phase behavior on palladium-catalyzed oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde in supercritical CO2 characterized by transmission- and ATR-IR spectroscopy combined with video monitoring of the reaction mixture (102). The figure at the top shows the pressure dependence of the reaction rate. Note the strong increase of the oxidation rate between 140 and 150 bar. The in situ ATR spectra (middle) taken at 145 and 150 bar, respectively, indicate that a change from a biphasic (region A) to a monophasic (B) reaction mixture occurred in the catalyst surface region in this pressure range. This change in the phase behavior was corroborated by the simultaneous video monitoring, as shown at the bottom of the figure.

Effect of Pressure on Micelles. While temperature studies of the phase transitions of bilayers and micelles have been performed for some time now, the utilization of pressure as a variable is a more recent development. Variation in temperature of a colloidal aggregate such as a bilayer causes simultaneous changes in thermal energy and volume, whereas isothermal variation in pressure (up to 50 kbar) yields spectroscopic changes due only to volume effects. A review of high pressure vibrational spectroscopy of phospholipid bilayers has recently appeared (74). in which the surprisingly rich barotropic phase behavior of these compounds is explored in detail. 

In the polymer industry involving SCFs, a co-solvent is commonly needed because the solubility of a polymer in high-pressure is very low. In order to consider an effective method for the production of polymeric materials using scC02, it is essential to understand the liquid-liquid (L-L) phase behavior of C02 + polymer + co-solvent systems at constant pressure and temperature [9, 20]. 

In order to increase the sustainability of chemical processes, environmentally friendly solvents such as supercritical fluids (SCFs) are widely investigated. Han and coworkers studied the ethenolysis of ethyl oleate in SC C02 in relation with the phase behavior of the reaction mixture [62]. They carried out the ethenolysis reaction at 35°C in the absence of C02 and in the presence of C02 at three different pressures (50, 82, and 120 bar). The reaction in the absence of C02 reached equilibrium in 1 h at 80% conversion. The reaction rate in the presence of 50 bar of C02 was higher than without C02 and, at 82 bar, again increased with respect to 50 bar. However, when the pressure was increased to 120 bar, the reaction rate decreased. This effect was explained according to the variations on the phase behavior with the pressure an increase in the C02 pressure carried an increase of solubility of reactants, products, and C02, which produced a decrease of the viscosity of the reaction mixture. This positive effect was enhanced at 82 bar and was accompanied by an increase of selective solubility of the products in the vapor phase that further increased both reaction rate and conversion. The decrease of efficiency at 120 bar was related to an increase of the solubility of the reactants in the C02 phase. 

Dispersion and Phase Behavior. The selection of surfactants for high-pressure gas-flood mobility control effectively began in 1978 when Bernard and Holm received a patent on the use of alkyl polyethoxy sulfates SO4M as mobility control agents for... 

Reverse micelle and microemulsion solutions are mixtures of a surfactant, a nonpolar fluid and a polar solvent (typically water) which contain organized surfactant assemblies. The properties of a micelle phase in supercritical propane and ethane have been characterized by conductivity, density, and solubility measurements. The phase behavior of surfactant-supercritical fluid solutions is shown to be dependent on pressure, in contrast to liquid systems where pressure has little or no effect. Potential applications of this new class of solvents are discussed. 

In the studies described here, we examine in more detail the properties of these surfactant aggregates solubilized in supercritical ethane and propane. We present the results of solubility measurements of AOT in pure ethane and propane and of conductance and density measurements of supercritical fluid reverse micelle solutions. The effect of temperature and pressure on phase behavior of ternary mixtures consisting of AOT/water/supercritical ethane or propane are also examined. We report that the phase behavior of these systems is dependent on fluid pressure in contrast to liquid systems where similar changes in pressure have little or no effect. We have focused our attention on the reverse micelle region where mixtures containing 80 to 100% by weight alkane were examined. The new evidence supports and extends our initial findings related to reverse micelle structures in supercritical fluids. We report properties of these systems which may be important in the field of enhanced oil recovery. 

A high-pressure micromodel system has been constructed to visually investigate foam formation and flow behavior. This system uses glass plates, or micromodels, with the pattern of a pore network etched into them, to serve as a transparent porous medium. These micromodels can be suspended in a confining fluid in a pressure vessel, allowing them to be operated at high pressure and temperature. Because of this pressure capability, reservoir fluids can be used in the micromodel, and any effects of phase behavior or pressure- and temperature-dependent properties on foam flow can be examined. 

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