The Effect of Salt on Stability of Aqueous Foams

Oyindamola Obisesan,Mahmood Amani,Ramadan Ahmed

doi:10.3390/en14020279

Oyindamola Obisesan, Mahmood Amani + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en14020279

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Journal: Energies	Publication Date: Jan 6, 2021
Citations: 26	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Oklahoma, Texas A&M University at Qatar

Abstract

The properties of foams are often affected by environmental variables such as salt contamination. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of salt on the drainage behavior of aqueous foams. To accomplish this objective, drainage experiments were conducted on aqueous foams. Test variables were foam quality (40–65%), and salt content (0% to 18%), and type. To investigate drainage, the foam was generated in a flow loop and trapped in a vertical test section. Then, the pressure profile in the foam column was measured using ten pressure sensors. Foam drainage is determined as a function of time using measured pressure profiles. The results show that the drainage of NaCl-containing foams decreased with foam quality, whereas the CaCl2-containing foams did not exhibit a clear trend with foam quality. The effect of salt content on foam rheology was minimal.

Highlights

IntroductionFoam is a dispersion of gas bubbles in a continuous liquid phase that exhibits structure
Foam drainage was ured using a vertical test section equipped with sensors to determine the pressure profile
The following conclusions can be made based on the results of this investigation: 1. The addition of salts (NaCl and CaCl2) to the base liquid has a minor effect on the

Summary

Introduction

Foam is a dispersion of gas bubbles in a continuous liquid phase that exhibits structure. Due to its film structure, foam is a thermodynamically unstable fluid that undergoes processes such as gravitational drainage, coalescence, and Ostwald ripening [1,2,3,4]. Gravity drainage is the major cause of foam decay, which occurs due to the density difference between liquid and gas; the liquid flows downward because of the gravitational force. The coalescence of the foam bubbles occurs because of pressure differences between small and large bubbles when they come in contact. The coalescence of the gas bubbles causes destabilization of the foam as large gas bubbles are less stable as compared to small bubbles [5]

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