Tar sand extractions with microemulsions: I-the dissolution of light hydrocarbons by microemulsions using 2-butoxyethanol and diethylmethylamine as cosurfactants

For oil sand extractions with microemulsions it is important to disperse large quantities of light hydrocarbons in an aqueous medium. Fundamental studies on the properties of 2-butoxyethanol (BE) and diethylmethylamine (Et₂McN) in water suggest that these two liquids could be more effective cosurfactants than the usual alcohols used for this purpose. The phase diagrams of microemulsions using BE and Et₂MeN as cosurfactants, combined with typical ionic and non-ionic surfactants and typical aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, were therefore investigated and compared with microemulsions based on n-butanol. Although the phase diagrams depend significantly on the nature of the surfactant and of the oil, the monophasic region generally increases with the cosurfactant in the order n-butanol < Et₂McN < BE. With the active mixture BE-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, temperature has little effect on the phase diagram and NaCl generally destabilizes the microemulsion.