The Influence of Emulsion Composition on Gas Evolution

Multiphase fluids are frequently encountered in numerous industries, yet there is a limited understanding of gas evolution behavior in these applications. Various physicochemical factors can impact the gas evolution rate from supersaturated solutions. Exploring the parameters that impact gas evolution is critical to better understand the gas evolution process. This study specifically focuses on elucidating the impact of pressure and oil concentration on gas evolution behavior. Exxsol D-110, a model oil, was used to investigate the impact of emulsion properties on the gas evolution rate. The research explored water-in-oil (W/O) and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions to compare the gas evolution behavior across a concentration range using the same oil. In this work, stable emulsions were prepared to allow for mass transfer without any change to the droplet size distribution of the emulsions. In addition, surfactant concentrations were adjusted to facilitate the formation of stable emulsions. Span 80 was utilized as the surfactant to create stable W/O emulsions, while sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was employed to produce stable O/W emulsions. The experimental pressure ranged from 500 to 1500 psia, while the oil phase concentration varied from 10 to 100%.