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A Normalized Hydrophilic–Lipophilic Deviation Expression HLD N Is Necessary to Avoid Confusion Close to the Optimum Formulation of Surfactant‐Oil–Water Systems
Author(s) -
Salager Jean Louis
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of surfactants and detergents
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.349
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1558-9293
pISSN - 1097-3958
DOI - 10.1002/jsde.12518
Subject(s) - pulmonary surfactant , chemistry , surface tension , confusion , salinity , expression (computer science) , enhanced oil recovery , phase (matter) , chemical engineering , thermodynamics , chromatography , organic chemistry , biochemistry , computer science , psychology , ecology , physics , biology , psychoanalysis , engineering , programming language
The physicochemical conditions to attain a minimum interfacial tension between oil and water were intensively studied in the 1970s when the chemical‐enhanced oil recovery became an emergency with the increase in petroleum cost. Correlations between the formulation variables (salinity, oil nature, surfactant and co‐surfactant nature, temperature, and pressure) required to attain a minimum interfacial tension or a three‐phase behavior, so‐called optimum formulation, were related to the chemical potential concept in the late 1970s. They were then transformed in a generalized hydrophilic–lipophilic deviation (HLD) expression in 2000. Some confusion in the ranking and classification of the surfactant parameters with different scales has occurred in recent years. The aim here is to propose a normalized HLD N expression with the alkane carbon number (ACN) variable scale to clear up the current misunderstanding in the use of different HLD expressions. The use of a single HLD N expression for all systems improves the prediction of formulation effects, but does not eliminate the limitations due to the partitioning of species in surfactant mixtures.