Superheating of Kerosene-Surfactant-Water Interface Formed in a Capillary

✍ Scribed by Yoshiro Kitamura; Qingfa Huang; Teruo Takahashi

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 316 KB
• Volume: 156
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9797
• DOI: 10.1006/jcis.1993.1098

✦ Synopsis

To provide fundamental information about the microexplosion of emulsified fuels, the effect of surfactants on the superheating of a kerosene-water interface was experimentally investigated. Surfactants such as Span 80, (\mathrm{NPE}{2}, \mathrm{NPE}{5}), and (\mathrm{NPE}{7.5}) were used. The three-layer sample was prepared in a capillary; the bottom layer was kerosene, the middle layer was water, and the upper layer was kerosene. The surfactants were dissolved in the upper kerosene layer. The 30-40 samples were used to determine the superheating temperature distribution. The superheating temperature decreases with increasing concentration of surfactant and approaches a constant distribution over a critical concentration. The superheating temperature also depends on the hydrophilic group of (\mathrm{NPE}{x}). To explain such an effect, we assumed that the surfactant was absorbed on the interface and accelerated tlic mucleation rate. We suggest a modified nucleation rate which includes the surface coverage by a surfactant. The model predicts that the presence of surfactants reduces the superheating temperature and makes the distribution broader. The prediction from this model is in good agreement with the experimental data. 1993 Academic Press, Inc.