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Control of foaming in hydrogen sulfide/water mixtures
Author(s) -
Spagnolo D. A.,
Chuang K. T.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450630407
Subject(s) - pulmonary surfactant , defoamer , petrochemical , hydrogen sulfide , micelle , chemistry , nonionic surfactant , chemical engineering , hydrogen , organic chemistry , aqueous solution , sulfur , physics , engineering , biochemistry , dispersant , optics , dispersion (optics)
Hydrogen sulfide/water mixtures are frequently encountered in the petrochemical and heavy water industries. Such mixtures exhibit an inherent foaminess when operating close to the liquefaction pressure of H 2 S. This can cause severe problems in fluid handling equipment. Some nonionic surfactants are effective antifoams for these mixtures. The antifoam action is due to surfactant micelle formation which is enhanced by the presence of H 2 S through a “salting out” mechanism. The pressure at which a particular surfactant becomes an antifoam can be predicted from the hydrophobicity of the surfactant molecule. Such understanding could be applied to control foaming in other systems.