EFFECT OF ETHOXYLATED NONYL-PHENOLS ON TH E INTERFACIAL RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL-WATER SYSTEMS

The interfacial rheological properties of different Hungarian crude oi l-water systems were determined in wide temperature and shear rate ran ges and in the presence of ethoxylated nonylphenols with ethoxy group number between 10 and 40. The fundamental conclusion of the experiment al results is that the interfacial viscosity, the non-Newtonian flow b ehavior and the activation energy of the viscous flow drastically decr ease in the presence of nonionic surfactants. The changes in these int erfacial rheological properties increase with decreasing ethoxy group number and increasing tenside concentration and temperature. The most radical change was observed in the presence of NPEO10. As a summary it was evidenced that interfacial rheology is an efficient and powerful detection technique, which may enhance our knowledge on the formation, structure, properties and behaviour of interfacial layers formed in o il/water systems. Thus, similar studies will probably accelerate the p rogress significantly not only in oil recovery but also in all areas o f colloid science and technology.