Hyperspectral remote sensing identification of marine oil emulsions based on the fusion of spatial and spectral features

Marine oil spill emulsions are difficult to recover,and the damage to the environment is not easy to eliminate.The use of remote sensing to accurately identify oil spill emulsions is highly important for the protection of marine environments.However,the spectrum of oil emulsions changes due to different water content.Hyperspectral remote sensing and deep learning can use spectral and spatial information to identify different types of oil emulsions.Nonetheless,hyperspectral data can also cause information redundancy,reducing classification accuracy and efficiency,and even overfitting in machine learning models.To address these problems,an oil emulsion deep-learning identification model with spatial-spectral feature fusion is established,and feature bands that can distinguish between crude oil,seawater,water-in-oil emulsion(WO),and oil-in-water emulsion(OW)are filtered based on a standard deviation threshold–mutual information method.Using oil spill airborne hyperspectral data,we conducted identification experiments on oil emulsions in different background waters and under different spatial and temporal conditions,analyzed the transferability of the model,and explored the effects of feature band selection and spectral resolution on the identification of oil emulsions.The results show the following.(1)The standard deviation–mutual information feature selection method is able to effectively extract feature bands that can distinguish between WO,OW,oil slick,and seawater.The number of bands was reduced from 224 to 134 after feature selection on the Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer(AVIRIS)data and from 126 to 100 on the S185 data.(2)With feature selection,the overall accuracy and Kappa of the identification results for the training area are 91.80%and 0.86,respectively,improved by 2.62%and 0.04,and the overall accuracy and Kappa of the identification results for the migration area are 86.53%and 0.80,respectively,improved by 3.45%and 0.05.(3)The oil emulsion identification model has a certain degree of transferability and can effectively identify oil spill emulsions for AVIRIS data at different times and locations,with an overall accuracy of more than 80%,Kappa coefficient of more than 0.7,and F1 score of 0.75 or more for each category.(4)As the spectral resolution decreasing,the model yields different degrees of misclassification for areas with a mixed distribution of oil slick and seawater or mixed distribution of WO and OW.Based on the above experimental results,we demonstrate that the oil emulsion identification model with spatial–spectral feature fusion achieves a high accuracy rate in identifying oil emulsion using airborne hyperspectral data,and can be applied to images under different spatial and temporal conditions.Furthermore,we also elucidate the impact of factors such as spectral resolution and background water bodies on the identification process.These findings provide new reference for future endeavors in automated marine oil spill detection.

Experimental investigation on using CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion with high water cut in enhanced oil recovery

CO_(2) emulsions used for EOR have received a lot of interest because of its good performance on CO_(2)mobility reduction.However,most of them have been focusing on the high quality CO_(2) emulsion(high CO_(2) fraction),while CO_(2) emulsion with high water cut has been rarely researched.In this paper,we carried out a comprehensive experimental study of using high water cut CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion for enhancing oil recovery.Firstly,a nonionic surfactant,alkyl glycosides(APG),was selected to stabilize CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion,and the corresponding morphology and stability were evaluated with a transparent PVT cell.Subsequently,plugging capacity and apparent viscosity of CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion were measured systematically by a sand pack displacement apparatus connected with a 1.95-m long capillary tube.Furthermore,a high water cut(40 vol%) CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion was selected for flooding experiments in a long sand pack and a core sample,and the oil recovery,the rate of oil recovery,and the pressure gradients were analyzed.The results indicated that APG had a good performance on emulsifying and stabilizing CO_(2) emulsion.An inversion from H_(2)O/CO_(2) emulsion to CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion with the increase in water cut was confirmed.CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsions with lower water cuts presented higher apparent viscosity,while the optimal plugging capacity of CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion occurred at a certain water cut.Eventually,the displacement using CO_(2)/H_(2)O emulsion provided 18.98% and 13.36% additional oil recovery than that using pure CO_(2) in long sand pack and core tests,respectively.This work may provide guidelines for EOR using CO_(2) emulsions with high water cut.

Oil-in-water nanoemulsions loaded with lycopene extracts encapsulated by spray drying:Formulation,characterization and optimization

Lycopene is very susceptible to degradation once released from the protective chromoplast environment.In this study,oil-in-water(O/W)nanoemulsions coupled with spray drying technology were applied for the encapsulation and stabilization of lycopene extracted from tomato waste.Tomato extract was obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction.Nanoemulsions were prepared by a high-speed rotor stator using isopropyl myristate as the oil phase and Pluronic F-127 as the emulsifier for the aqueous external phase.The effect of emulsification process parameters was investigated.Spray drying of the produced emulsions was attempted to obtain a stabilized dry powder after the addition of a coating agent.The effect of different coating agents(maltodextrin,inulin,gum arabic,pectin,whey and polyvinylpyrrolidone),drying temperature(120-170℃),and feed flow rate(3-9 ml·min^(-1))on the obtained particles was evaluated.Results revealed that the emulsion formulation of 20/80(O/W)with 1.5%(mass fraction)of Pluronic F-127 as stabilizer in the aqueous phase resulted in a stable nanoemulsion with droplet sizes in the range of 259-276 nm with a unimodal and sharp size distribution.The extract in the nanoemulsion was well protected at room temperature with a degradation rate of lycopene of about 50%during a month of storage time.The most stable emulsions were then processed by spray drying to obtain a dry powder.Spray drying was particularly successful when using maltodextrin as a coating agent,obtaining dried spherical particles with mean diameters of(4.87±0.17)μm with a smooth surface.The possibility of dissolving the spray dried powder in order to repristinate.The original emulsion was also successfully verified.

Anti-abrasion collagen fiber-based membrane functionalized by UiO-66-NH_(2)with ultra-high efficiency and stability for oil-in-water emulsions separation

Membrane separation strategies offer promising platform for the emulsion separation.However,the low mechanical strength of membrane separation layers and the trade-off between separation flux and efficiency present significant challenges.In this study,we report a CFM@UiO-66-NH_(2)membrane with high separation flux,efficiency and stability,through utilizing a robust anti-abrasion collagen fiber membrane(CFM)as the multifunctional support and UiO-66-NH_(2)by an in-situ growth as the separation layer.The high mechanical strength of the CFM compensated for the weakness of the separation layer,while the charge-breaking effect of UiO-66-NH_(2),along with the size sieving of its constituent separating layers and the capillary effect of the collagen fibers,contributed to the potential for efficient separation.Additionally,the CFM@UiO-66-NH_(2)membrane exhibited superhydrophilic properties,making it suitable for separating oil-in-water microemulsions and nanoemulsions stabilized by anionic surfactants.The membrane demonstrated remarkable separation efficiencies of up to 99.960%and a separation flux of370.05 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1).Moreover,it exhibits stability,durability,and abrasion resistance,maintaining excellent separation performance even when exposed to strong acids and alkalis without any damage to its structure and performance.After six cycles of reuse,it achieved a separation flux of 417.97 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1)and a separation efficiency of 99.747%.Furthermore,after undergoing 500 cycles of strong abrasion,the separation flux remained at 124.39 L·m^(-2)·h^(-1),with a separation efficiency of 99.992%.These properties make it suitable for the long-term use in harsh operating environments.We attribute these properties to the electrostatic effect resulting from the amino group on UiO-66-NH_(2)and its in-situ growth on the CFM,which forms a size-screening separation layer.Our work highlights the potential of the CFM@UiO-66-NH_(2)membrane as an environmentally friendly size-screening material for the efficient emulsion wastewater separation.

Synergistic anionic/zwitterionic mixed surfactant system with high emulsification efficiency for enhanced oil recovery in low permeability reservoirs

Emulsification is one of the important mechanisms of surfactant flooding. To improve oil recovery for low permeability reservoirs, a highly efficient emulsification oil flooding system consisting of anionic surfactant sodium alkyl glucosyl hydroxypropyl sulfonate(APGSHS) and zwitterionic surfactant octadecyl betaine(BS-18) is proposed. The performance of APGSHS/BS-18 mixed surfactant system was evaluated in terms of interfacial tension, emulsification capability, emulsion size and distribution, wettability alteration, temperature-resistance and salt-resistance. The emulsification speed was used to evaluate the emulsification ability of surfactant systems, and the results show that mixed surfactant systems can completely emulsify the crude oil into emulsions droplets even under low energy conditions. Meanwhile,the system exhibits good temperature and salt resistance. Finally, the best oil recovery of 25.45% is achieved for low permeability core by the mixed surfactant system with a total concentration of 0.3 wt%while the molar ratio of APGSHS:BS-18 is 4:6. The current study indicates that the anionic/zwitterionic mixed surfactant system can improve the oil flooding efficiency and is potential candidate for application in low permeability reservoirs.

Rheo-optic in situ synchronous study on the gelation behaviour and mechanism of waxy crude oil emulsions

An improved rheo-optic in situ synchronous measurement system was employed to investigate the gelation behaviour and mechanism of waxy crude oil emulsions. By combining transmitted natural light and reflected polarized light microscopy, a multiangle composite light source was built to achieve the simultaneous observation of wax crystals and emulsified water droplets, as well as their dynamic aggregation process. Main outcomes on the microscopic mechanism were obtained by developed microscopic image processing method. It was found that the microstructure of W/O waxy crude oil emulsion has the evolution of “individual structure--homogeneous aggregate structure--heterogeneous coaggregate structure--floc structure” during the static cooling, which results in the four stages during gelation process. Different from previous studies, the aggregation of emulsified water droplets was found to be more significant and contributes to the formation and development of the wax crystals-emulsified water droplets coaggregate, which plays a decisive role in the further evolution of the gelled microstructure. Time series microscopic images show the dynamic aggregation of emulsified water droplets and wax crystals. Two different aggregation behaviours between wax crystals and water droplets were observed. That wax crystals can not only embed in gaps between adjacent water droplets and enhance the structure, but also surround the outside of the water droplets and continue to grow resulting in the interconnection of different coaggregates to form a larger floc structure. In addition, correlation between viscoelasticity and microstructure evolution of waxy crude oil emulsions of different water contents was discussed. With increasing water contents, the microstructure is changed from wax crystal flocculation structure as the main skeleton and the emulsified water droplets embedded in it, into the aggregation of emulsified water droplets occupying the main position. When the number of wax crystals and water droplets reaches a certain ratio, did wax crystals form coaggregates with emulsified water droplets, and the remaining wax crystals formed an overall flocculation structure, the viscoelasticity of the waxy crude oil emulsion is the highest.

Effect of sodium starch octenyl succinate-based Pickering emulsion on the physicochemical properties of hairtail myofibrillar protein gel subjected to multiple freeze-thaw cycles

A Pickering emulsion based on sodium starch octenyl succinate(SSOS)was prepared and its effects on the physicochemical properties of hairtail myofibrillar protein gels(MPGs)subjected to multiple freeze-thaw(F-T)cycles were investigated.The whiteness,water-holding capacity,storage modulus(G')and texture properties of the MPGs were significantly improved by adding 1%-2%Pickering emulsion(P<0.05).Meanwhile,Raman spectral analysis demonstrated that Pickering emulsion promoted the transformation of secondary structure,enhanced hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions,and promoted the transition of disulfide bond conformation from g-g-g to g-g-t and t-g-t.At an emulsion concentration of 2%,theα-helix content decreased by 10.37%,while theβ-sheet content increased by 7.94%,compared to the control.After F-T cycles,the structure of the MPGs was destroyed,with an increase in hardness and a decrease in whiteness and water-holding capacity,however,the quality degradation of MPGs was reduced with 1%-2%Pickering emulsion.These findings demonstrated that SSOS-Pickering emulsions,as potential fat substitutes,can enhance the gel properties and the F-T stability of MPGs.

Pickering emulsion transport in skeletal muscle tissue:A dissipative particle dynamics simulation approach

Lymph node targeting is a commonly used strategy for particulate vaccines,particularly for Pickering emulsions.However,extensive research on the internal delivery mechanisms of these emulsions,especially the complex intercellular interactions of deformable Pickering emulsions,has been surprisingly sparse.This gap in knowledge holds significant potential for enhancing vaccine efficacy.This study aims to address this by summarizing the process of lymph-node-targeting transport and introducing a dissipative particle dynamics simulation method to evaluate the dynamic processes within cell tissue.The transport of Pickering emulsions in skeletal muscle tissue is specifically investigated as a case study.Various factors impacting the transport process are explored,including local cellular tissue environmental factors and the properties of the Pickering emulsion itself.The simulation results primarily demonstrate that an increase in radial repulsive interaction between emulsion particles can decrease the transport efficiency.Additionally,larger intercellular gaps also diminish the transport efficiency of emulsion droplet particles due to the increased motion complexity within the intricate transport space compared to a single channel.This study sheds light on the nuanced interplay between engineered and biological systems influencing the transport dynamics of Pickering emulsions.Such insights hold valuable potential for optimizing transport processes in practical biomedical applications such as drug delivery.Importantly,the desired transport efficiency varies depending on the specific application.For instance,while a more rapid transport might be crucial for lymph-node-targeted drug delivery,certain applications requiring a slower release of active components could benefit from the reduced transport efficiency observed with increased particle repulsion or larger intercellular gaps.

Demulsification Behavior, Characteristics, and Performance of Surfactant Stabilized Oil-in-Water Emulsion under Bidirectional Pulsed Electric Field

As a novel electric demulsification method,bidirectional pulsed electric field(BPEF)was employed to demulsify the surfactant stabilized oil-in-water(SSO/W)emulsion for oil/water separation in this work.The demulsification behavior,characteristics,and stages under BPEF were explored.It was discovered that BPEF drove SSO/W emulsion to move and form vortexes,during which the oil droplets aggregated and accumulated to generate an oil droplet layer(ODL).ODL subsequently transformed into a continuous oil layer(COL)leading to the demulsification and separation of SSO/W emulsion.The conversion rate of ODL to COL was defined and used to evaluate the demulsification process and reflect the coalescence ability and transformation efficiency of dispersed oil droplets into COL.Furthermore,the effects of BPEF voltage,frequency,duty cycle,ratio of pulse output time,and surfactant type and content on the demulsification performance were examined.The optimal values of BPEF parameters for demulsification operation were 400 V,25 Hz,50%,and 4:1.O/W emulsion containing anionic surfactant was apt to be demulsified by BPEF,nonionic surfactant took the second place and cationic surfactant was the most difficult.A high surfactant content was not conducive to the BPEF demulsification.This work is anticipated to provide useful guidance for oil/water separation and oil recovery from actual emulsified oily wastewater by BPEF.

Facile synthesis of chromium chloride/poly(methyl methacrylate) core/shell nanocapsules by inverse miniemulsion evaporation method and application as delayed crosslinker in secondary oil recovery

Cr(III)ehydrolyzed polyacrylamide(HPAM)gels have been extensively studied as a promising strategy controlling waste water production for mature oilfields.However,the gelation time of the current technologies is not long enough for in-depth placement.In this study,we report a novel synthesis method to obtain chromium chloride/poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA)nanocapsules which can significantly delay the gelation of HPAM through encapsulating the chromium chloride crosslinker.The chromium chloride-loaded nanocapsules(CreNC)are prepared via a facile inverse miniemulsion evaporation method during which the hydrophobic PMMA polymers,pre-dispersed in an organic solvent,were carefully controlled to precipitate onto stable aqueous miniemulsion droplets.The stable aqueous nanodroplets(W)containing Cr(III)are dispersed in a mixture of organic solvent(O1)with PMMA and nonsolvent medium(O2)to prepare an inverse miniemulsion.With the evaporation of the O1,PMMA forms CreNCs around the aqueous droplets.The CreNCs are readily transferred into water from the organic nonsolvent phase.The CreNCs exhibit the tunable size(358-983 nm),Cr loading(7.1%-19.1%),and Cr entrapment efficiency(11.7%-80.2%),with tunable zeta potentials in different PVA solutions.The CreNCs can delay release of Cr(III)and prolong the gelation time of HPAM up to 27 days.

An Experimental Study on the Interaction between Hydrate Formation and Wax Precipitation in Waxy Oil-in-Water Emulsions

The coupled formation of wax crystals and hydrates is a critical issue for the safety of deep-sea oil and gas exploration and subsea transport pipeline flow.Therefore,this paper conducts an experimental study on the characteristics of methane hydrate formation in a water-in-oil(W/O)system with different wax crystal contents and explores the influence of different initial experimental pressures on the induction period and maximum rate of hydrate formation.The wavelet function was introduced to process the reaction rate and calculate the maximum speed of hydrate formation.Notably,the higher the pressure,the smaller the maximum rate of hydrate formation.We observed that wax crystal precipitation increases the viscosity of the emulsion,which limits the diffusion of gas in the liquid phase during hydrate nucleation and thus delays the hydrate nucleation.The methane gas precipitation also affects the remaining fraction’s wax content and therefore affects the wax precipitation.Secondary hydrate formation was observed several times during the experiment,increasing the risk of pipeline blockage.Overall,this work provides insights into the effect of wax crystal precipitation on hydrate behaviour that could facilitate flow assurance applications in subsea multiphase pipelines and inform the safe transportation of oil and gas pipelines.

The use of bacterial cellulose from kombucha to produce curcumin loaded Pickering emulsion with improved stability and antioxidant properties

Curcumin is a bioactive molecule with limited industrial application because of its instability and poor solubility in water.Herein,curcumin-loaded Pickering emulsion was produced using purified bacterial cellulose from fermented kombucha(KBC).The morphology,particle size,stability,rheological properties,and antioxidant activities of the curcumin-loaded Pickering emulsion were investigated.The fluorescence microscope and scanning electron microscopy images showed that the curcumin-loaded Pickering emulsion formed circular droplets with good encapsulation.The curcumin-load Pickering emulsion exhibited better stability under a wide range of temperatures,low p H,sunlight,and UV-365 nm than the free curcumin,indicating that the KBC after high-pressure homogenization improved the stability of the CPE.The encapsulated curcumin retained its antioxidant capacity and exhibited higher functional potential than the free curcumin.The study demonstrated that the KBC could be an excellent material for preparing a Pickering emulsion to improve curcumin stability and antioxidant activity.

Brucea javanica oil emulsion improves the effect of radiotherapy on esophageal cancer cells by inhibiting cyclin D1-CDK4/6 axis

BACKGROUND Esophageal cancer is one of the most common cancers around the world, and it has high incidence and mortality rates. The conventional therapy for esophageal cancer is radiotherapy, although its effect is highly limited by the resistance of esophageal cancer cells. Thus, strong radiosensitizers can be very crucial during radiotherapy against esophageal cancer. Brucea javanica oil emulsion (BJOE) is a widely used drug against various cancers, such as liver, colon, and ovarian cancer. However, its anti-cancer effect and mechanism and the use of BJOE as a radiosensitizer have not been explored in esophageal cancer. AIM To evaluate the anti-cancer effect and mechanism of BJOE and explore the potential use of BJOE as a radiosensitizer during radiotherapy. METHODS The inhibitory effect of BJOE and its enhancement function with radiation on cell viability were examined with the calculated half-maximal effective concentration and half-maximal lethal concentration. The influence of BJOE on cell migration and invasion were measured with EC109 and JAR cells by wound-healing and transwell assay. Clonogenesis and apoptotic rate, which was measured by Hoechst staining, were investigated to confirm its enhancement function with radiation. To investigate the molecular pathway underlying the effect of BJOE, the expressions of several apoptosis- and cycle-related proteins was detected by western blotting.cell lines more than normal cell lines, and it markedly reduced migration and invasion in esophageal cancer cells (EC109 and JAR). Moreover, it promoted cell apoptosis and enhanced the effect of radiotherapy against esophageal cancerous cells. In the viability test, the values of half-maximal effective concentration and half-maximal lethal concentration were reduced. Compared to the control, only around 1/5 colonies formed when using BJOE and radiation together in the clonogenic assay. The apoptotic rate in EC109 was obviously promoted when BJOE was added during radiotherapy. Our study suggests that the expression of the apoptosis-proteins Bax and p21 were increased, while the expression of Bcl-2 was stable. Further detection of downstream proteins revealed that the expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 were significantly decreased. CONCLUSION BJOE has a strong anti-cancer effect on esophageal cancer and can be used as a radiosensitizer to promote apoptosis in cancerous esophageal cells via the cyclin D1-cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 axis.

Influence of surfactants used in surfactant-polymer flooding on the stability of Gudong crude oil emulsion

The influences of an anionic-nonionic composite surfactant and petroleum sulfonate, used in surfactant-polymer flooding in Shengli Gudong oilfield, East China, on the interfacial properties of Gudong crude model oil and synthetic formation water was studied by measuring interfacial tension, interfacial viscoelasticity and Zeta potential. The in？ uence of the surfactants on the stability of Gudong water-in-oil （W/O） and oil-in-water （O/W） emulsions was evaluated by separating water from the W/O emulsion and residual oil in the aqueous phase of the O/W emulsion respectively. The results showed that the two kinds of surfactants, namely anionic-nonionic composite surfactant and petroleum sulfonate, are both able to decrease the interfacial tension between the oil phase and the aqueous phase and increase the surface potential of the oil droplets dispersed in the O/W emulsion, which can enhance the stability of the W/O and O/W crude oil emulsions. Compared with petroleum sulfonate, the anionic-nonionic composite surfactant is more interfacially active and able to enhance the strength of the interfacial film between oil and water, hence enhance the stability of the W/O and O/W emulsions more effectively.

Experimental investigation of the effects of various parameters on viscosity reduction of heavy crude by oil-water emulsion

The effects of water content, shear rate, temperature, and solid particle concentration on viscosity reduction （VR） caused by forming stable emulsions were investigated using Omani heavy crude oil. The viscosity of the crude oil was initially measured with respect to shear rates at different temperatures from 20 to 70℃. The crude oil exhibited a shear thinning behavior at all the temperatures. The strongest shear thinning was observed at 20℃. A non-ionic water soluble surfactant （Triton X-100） was used to form and stabilize crude oil emulsions. The emulsification process has significantly reduced the crude oil viscosity. The degree of VR was found to increase with an increase in water content and reach its maximum value at 50 % water content. The phase inversion from oil- oil emulsion occurred at 30 in-water emulsion to water-in- % water content. The results indicated that the VR was inversely proportional to temperature and concentration of silica nanoparticles. For water-in-oil emulsions, VR increased with shear rate and eventually reached a plateau at a shear rate of around 350 s^-1. This was attributed to the thinning behavior of the continuous phase. The VR of oil-in-water emulsions remained almost constant as the shear rate increased due to the Newtonian behavior of water, the continuous phase.

Molecular design and applications of a nanostructure green Tripodal surface active ionic liquid in enhanced oil recovery: Interfacial tension reduction, wettability alteration, and emulsification

Surface active ionic liquids (SAILs) are considered as prominent materials in enhanced oil recovery thanks to their high interfacial activity. This study reports the preparation and applications of a nanostructure Tripodal imidazolium SAIL as an environmentally-friendly substitute to the conventional surfactants. The product has a star-like molecular structure centered by a triazine spacer, namely [(C_(4)im)_(3)TA][Cl_(3)], prepared by a one-step synthesis method and characterized with FT-IR, NMR, XRD, and SEM analysis methods. The interfacial tension of the system was decreased to about 78% at critical micelle concentration of less than 0.08 mol·dm^(−3). Increasing temperature, from 298.2 to 323.2 K, improved this capability. The solid surface wettability was changed from oil-wet to water-wet and 80% and 77% stable emulsions of crude oil–aqueous solutions were created after one day and one week, respectively. Compared to the Gemini kind homologous SAILs, the superior effects of the Tripodal SAIL were revealed and attributed to the strong hydrophobic branches in the molecule. The Frumkin adsorption isotherm precisely reproduced the generated IFT data, and accordingly, the adsorption and thermodynamic parameters were determined.

Influence of polymers on the stability of Gudao crude oil emulsions

The influence of different types and concentrations of polymers on the stability of Gudao crude oil emulsion was investigated by measuring the volume of water separated from the emulsions and the interfacial shear viscosity of the oil/water interfacial film. Experimental results indicate that the simulated water-in-oil emulsion with 40 mg/L of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide （HPAM） 3530S could be easily broken by adding demulsifier C and was readily separated into two layers. However, HPAM AX-74H and hydrophobically associating water-soluble polymer （HAP） could stabilize the crude oil emulsion. With increasing concentration of AX-74H and HAP, crude oil emulsions became more stable. Water droplets were loosely packed in the water-in model oil emulsion containing HPAM 3530S, but water droplets were smaller and more closely packed in the emulsion containing AX-74H or HAP. The polymers could be adsorbed on the oil/water interface, thereby increasing the strength of the interracial film and enhancing the emulsion stability.

Study on the thixotropy and structural recovery characteristics of waxy crude oil emulsion

Waxy crude oil emulsion has thixotropic properties at the temperature near gel point,which is a macromechanical characterization of the structure failure and recovery of waxy crude oil emulsion.In this paper,the thixotropic behaviors of waxy crude oil emulsion near gel point were studied using hysteresis loop formed by stress linear increase and decrease,as well as the structural recovery characteristics.The influence of the loading conditions and water content on the thixotropy of waxy crude oil emulsion were analyzed with hysteresis loop area.The concept of"structural recovery"was introduced to study the degree of structural recovery after different stewing,and influencing factors were taken into account.Results have shown that for waxy crude oil emulsion,the failure to fully restore of the structure after lysis is the cause of the formation of hysteresis loop,and the loading conditions will not affect the strength of thixotropy and the degree of structural recovery.Additionally,the dispersed phase droplets weaken the thixotropy and structure recovery characteristics of waxy crude oil emulsion,and the greater the water content,the weaker the thixotropy.The findings can help to better understand the safe and economic operation of waxy crude oil-water pipeline transportation.

A study of the mechanism of enhancing oil recovery using supercritical carbon dioxide microemulsions

Supercritical carbon dioxide （scCO2） microemulsion was formed by supercritical CO2, H20, sodium bis（2-ethylhexyl） sulfosuccinate （AOT, surfactant） and C2HsOH （co-surfactant） under pressures higher than 8 MPa at 45 ℃. The fundamental characteristics of the scCO2 microemulsion and the minimum miscibility pressure （MMP） with Daqing oil were investigated with a high-pressure falling sphere viscometer, a high-pressure interfacial tension meter, a PVT cell and a slim tube test. The mechanism of the scCO2 microemulsion for enhancing oil recovery is discussed. The results showed that the viscosity and density of the scCO2 microemulsion were higher than those of the scCO2 fluid at the same pressure and temperature. The results of interfacial tension and slim tube tests indicated that the MMP of the scCO2 microemulsion and crude oil was lower than that of the scCO2 and crude oil at 45 ℃. It is the combined action of viscosity, density and MMP which made the oil recovery efficiency of the scCO2 microemulsion higher than that of the scCO2 fluid.

Water solubility enhancements of PAHs by sodium castor oil sulfonate microemulsions

Water solubility enhancements of naphthalene(Naph), phenantherene(Phen) and pyrene(Py) in sodium castor oil sulfonate(SCOS) microemulsions were evaluated. The apparent solubilities of PAHs are linearly proportional to the concentrations of SCOS microemulsion, and the enhancement extent by SCOS solutions is greater than that by ordinary surfactants on the basis of weight solubilization ratio(WSR). The log K em values of Naph, Phen, and Py are 3 13, 4 44 and 5 01 respectively, which are about the same as the log K ow values. At 5000 mg/L of SCOS conccentration, the apparent solubilities are 8 80, 121, and 674 times as the intrinsic solubilities for Naph, Phen, and Py. The effects of inorganic ions and temperature on the solubilization of solutes are also investigated. The solubilization is improved with a moderate addition of Ca 2+ , Na +, NH + 4 and the mixture of Na +, K +, Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and NH + 4. WSR values are enhanced by 22 0% for Naph, 23 4% for Phen, and 24 6% for Py with temperature increasing by 5℃. The results indicated that SCOS microemulsions improve the performance of the surfactant enhanced remediation(SER) of soil, by increasing solubilities of organic pollutants and reducing the level of surfactant pollution and remediation expenses.