Surfactants economic importance

The most economically important member of this family of surfactants is disodium cocoamphodipropionate. It is a fairly good detergent in itself but it has other properties that make it very useful for formulated liquid cleaners. It is quite soluble in fairly concentrated... 

With such a variety of available structures, how does one choose the proper surfactant for a particular purpose Alternatively, why are only certain surfactants used for a particular purpose and not other surfactants Economic factors are often of major importance—unless the cost of using the surfactant is trivial compared to other costs, one usually chooses the most inexpensive surfactant that will do the job. In addition, such considerations as environmental effects (biodegradability, toxicity to and bioconcentration in aquatic organisms) and, for personal care products, skin irritation are important considerations. The selection of the best surfactants or... 

A secondary surfactants group with increasing economical importance are the A -(2-aminoethyl)-2-aminoethanol (aminoethylethanolamine)-derived amphoterics. Because the intermediate in the synthesis of these surfactants is a substituted imidazoline, they are also classified as being imidazoline-derived. Historically, these mild surfactants have been the first to offer the possibility for the production of non-eye-stinging shampoos. Still today, aminoethylethanolamine-derived amphoterics are mainly used in personal care formulations where mild properties are desired, whereas industrial applications play only a minor role. 

Relative to the other major classes of surfactants, namely, anionics and nonionics, the cationics represent a relatively minor part of worldwide surfactant production, probably less than 10% of total production. However, as new uses and special requirements for surfactants evolve, their economic importance can be expected to continue to increase. 

Dated sediment layers (1939-1991) of a small German river were studied for their LAS concentrations and the gathered data were related to political, economic and technical developments in Germany [14]. As expected the sediments corresponding to the period 1939-1945 contained no LAS, since at that time soap was the most important surfactant used for laundry washing. A significantly different picture was obtained in sediments from 1949 to 1951 when a particular LAS was used along with soap. The values determined in the two core samples amounted to 1.4 and 1.3 mg kg-1, respectively. In the sediment horizons from 1954 to 1956 no LASs were detected, which is in accordance with the fact that the less expensive branched alkylbenzene sulfonate (ABS) had replaced the linear one. In the years from 1959 to... 

The great technical and economic Tmportance of this product group was reached despite its higher price only because of its special properties. Due to the ionic sulfate group and the adjacent ether groups, ether sulfates combine the classical elements of ionic and nonionic surfactants in one molecule. This provides a number of properties, one of which, the Krafft-Point, is of special importance for the technical application of these compounds. 

Several themes of the application of FT-IR to studies of colloidal particles and interfaces have appeared over the last decade or so. The purpose of this chapter is to attempt to draw together examples of such research topics for both the practicing spectroscopist and workers in the field of colloid and surfactant science. Major advances have been made in recent years in the areas of spectroscopic data handling (which have affected the "look" and "feel of the analytical laboratory in general) and sample handling (various new optical accessories). These advances have made FT-IR a truly accessible technique, with tremendous potential for application to research in areas of considerable economic, as well as fundamental, importance. 

Another important application is water suspensions of charged colloids in the form of ore particles such as silica and silicate. These systems can be destabilized by addition of surfactants followed by a separation of the ore by froth flotation procedure. This is of great importance for the mineral industry, while it permits large-scale and economic processing of crushed ores, where the desired mineral is separated from the non-mineral containing... 

The surfactant systems used for mobility control in miscible flooding do not form a surfactant rich third phase, and lack its buffering action against surfactant adsorption. Furthermore, for obvious economic reasons, it is desirable to keep the surfactant concentration as low as possible, which increases the sensitivity of the dispersion stability to surfactant loss. Hence, surfactant adsorption is necessarily an even greater concern in the use of foams, emulsions, and dispersions for mobility control in miscible-flood EOR. The importance of surfactant adsorption in surfactant-based mobility control is widely recognized by researchers. A decision tree has even been published for selection of a mobility-control surfactant based on adsorption characteristics (12). 

One of the factors that determines foam propagation and foam-flood economics is surfactant loss in the reservoir, most importantly adsorption at the solid—liquid interface. Adsorption levels of foaming surfactants, mostly those suitable for high salinity conditions, cover a wide range and lead to vastly different distances of foam propagation. Therefore, selection of a surfactant with minimal adsorption levels for the reservoir conditions of interest is crucial. 

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