| Abstract: | This paper reports an experimental study on the effect of oil viscosity on the rheology of oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions with added solids. Four oils having a viscosity range of 0.0024 to 306 Pa . s were used. The size ratio of the solids to oil droplets was varied from 2 to 16. The addition of smaller size solids to the emulsions yielded a higher viscosity than that of larger solids at the same solids volume fraction. However, when the solids were sufficiently large such that the emulsions behaved as a continuous phase towards the solids, the viscosity of the emulsion-solids mixtures tended to be independent of the solids size. The critical size ratio of the solids to oil droplets, above which the emulsions behaved as a continuous phase towards the solids, increased with the oil viscosity. The critical size ratio varied between 3 and 10. |
