DYNAMIC TENSIONS IN FINITE OIL DROPLETS

In reacting systems, dynamic interfacial tension (IFT) values above 10-20 mN/m are often encountered. For such high tension values, infinitely long oil droplets will not be realised in spinning drop tensiometry. Hence, Vonnegut's solution will not be strictly valid. The experimentalist is then compelled to use one of the several alternative solution schemes proposed in the literature. We have obtained dynamic IFT data for 0.3125 mM oleic acid in hexadecane contacted with various NaOH solutions by the use of a novel experimental scheme called photo-micropendography. These tension values were then compared with spinning drop tensiometer data calculated by using three alternative solution schemes, namely, Vonnegut's method, the formula of Slattery and Chen and the analysis of Princen el al. The comparison showed that when the droplet's length/width ratio was below 2.5, Vonnegut's formula was severely in error. The solution scheme proposed by Slattery and Chen gave tension values close to those found by photo-micropendography over the entire range of IFT values exhibited by the oleic acid/caustic systems. However, the most consistent and reasonably accurate tension values resulted from the use of Table I in the paper by Princen, Zia and Mason. A simplified computer algorithm has been proposed for calculating dynamic interfacial tensions using the formulas and tables proposed by the latter authors. However, at length/width ratios above 2.5, the agreement between interfacial tensions determined by micropendography and spinning drop data calculated by the use of Vonnegut's solution was quite good.