Characterization of α-olefin sulfonate foam in presence of cosurfactants: Stability, foamability and drainage kinetic study

Abstract

Proper monitoring and evaluation of foam drainage characteristic is very much important in its fruitful application. The foamability, foam stability and drainage kinetics of α-olefin sulfonate (AOS)-Oleyl alcohol (OA) and AOS-Cetyl alcohol (CA) solutions were evaluated in the present study using various parameters like dynamic surface tension, foam height and half-life time as the functions of surfactant concentration and time. The presence of cosurfactants OA or CA in the AOS solutions was observed to significantly enhance the foam stability. A model has been proposed to quantify the foam collapse process and measure the foam stability with two characteristic parameters, i.e., the foam half-life time, and the prefactor of foam collapse rate. The antifoam behavior with the synergistic effects of OA or CA on the AOS molecules in the solutions was also studied through its relative antifoam effectiveness.