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Surfactants and Detergents

Session:: Surfactants in Oil and Gas - Part II

Influence of hydrophobe branching on interfacial properties of alcohol ethoxylates

Wednesday, May 3, 2023
9:10 AM – 9:30 AM MDT
Room: 405
Abstract: Alcohol ethoxylates are one of the most widely used class of non-ionic surfactants in oilfield formulations. The fundamental variations in the molecular structure that drive performance include the degree of hydrophobe branching and ethoxylation. The current presentation will focus on hydrophobe branching. Guerbet alcohols are primary alcohols with an alkyl branch at the C2 carbon are unique among the class of branched alcohols. Guerbet alcohols with carbon numbers 10 to 26 are commercially available products. These Guerbet alcohols can be ethoxylated to incorporate 3 to 20 EO groups in the alcohol molecule to provide a wide range of Guerbet alcohol ethoxylate surfactants. The current paper will focus on C12 Guerbet alcohol ethoxylate with EO ranging from 3 to 20. The fundamental interfacial properties of Guerbet alcohol ethoxylates at the air-water and crude oil-water interfaces for four crude oils with API gravity varying from 19 to 30 will be discussed. The fundamental interfacial properties of the C12 Guerbet alcohol ethoxylates will be compared to the linear and differently branched C12 / C13 counterparts. In particular, emphasis will be on how the unique Guerbet hydrophobe molecular structure influences fundamental interfacial properties. We will also discuss how the interfacial properties based on the different molecular structure of the hydrophobes influence foaming, crude oil emulsification and wetting performance.