Gravity induced coalescence in emulsions with high volume fractions of dispersed phase in the presence of surfactants

We report studies on the effect of volume fraction and surfactant concentration on the kinetics of destabilization of emulsions under the influence of gravity. Model oil‐in‐water emulsions, designed to mimic crude oil–water emulsions, were prepared with varying volume fractions of dispersed oil but nearly identical normalized initial drop size distributions. The gravity separation process was observed by periodically withdrawing samples, and examining the droplet size distribution under the microscope. Experiments were performed for three volume fractions of dispersed phase and two surfactant concentrations (0.4 and 1.6% by weight). At higher oil fractions (20%) and a lower surfactant concentration (0.4%), it was observed that although the rate of coalescence increased, the actual oil separation was delayed. At higher surfactant concentrations (1.6%), the dominant factor in suppressing destabilization is the rate of drop to interface coalescence. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 4379–4389, 2017