Experimental study on methane solubilization by organic surfactant aggregates

Abstract

Seeking to enhance coal mine safety, an experimental study of a kind of water-based explosion suppression medium for the absorption of mine gas was carried out. Using methane as the model gas, solubilizing experiments with different concentrations of anionic and nonionic surfactants were carried out using headspace gas chromatography for surfactants consisting of sodium fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether carboxylate (AEC), fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate (MES), fatty methyl ester ethoxylate (FMEE), hexyl d-glucoside (APG06), octyl beta-d-glucopyranoside (APG08) and n-decyl glucoside (APG10). By selecting individual surfactants, the study investigated the methane solubilization performance of water mist with binary anionic–nonionic surfactants. Furthermore, the release of methane in solution was also examined. The results show that the apparent solubility of methane in solution is linearly and positively correlated with the surfactant concentration. The methane solubilization is significantly improved by the addition of anionic–nonionic surfactants. The optimal solubilizing ratio of the anionic–nonionic surfactant varies with the solution compositions. For a fixed ratio, surfactant compositions exhibit the most distinct synergistic effect and the best performance for methane solubilization. The release of methane from mixed micelles composed of the compound solution is superior to that of a single surfactant. Through the analysis of the solubilization effect and the stability of different absorbents, it is concluded that the anionic–nonionic surfactant system shows much better capability than the other selected surfactants.