Phase Separation Kinetics in Isopycnic Mixtures of H2O/CO2/Ethoxylated Alcohol Surfactants

Ternary mixtures of H2O and CO2 with ethoxylated alcohol (C(sub i)E(sub j)) surfactants form three coexisting liquid phases at conditions where two of the phases have equal densities (isopycnic phases). Isopycnic phase behavior has been observed for mixtures containing C8E5, C10E6, and C12E6 surfactants, but not for those mixtures containing either C4E1 or C8E3 surfactants. Pressure-temperature (PT) projections for this three-phase equilibrium were determined for H2O/CO2/C8E5 and H2O/CO2/C10E6 mixtures at temperatures from approximately 25 to 33 C and pressures between 90 and 350 bar. Measurements of the microstructure in H2O/CO2/C12E6 mixtures as a function of temperature (25-31 C), pressure (63.1-90.7 bar), and CO2 composition (0-3.9 wt%) have also been carried out to show that while micellar structure remains essentially un-changed, critical concentration fluctuations increase as the phase boundary and plait point are approached. In this report, we present our first measurements of the kinetics of isopycnic phase separation for ternary mixtures of H2O/CO2/C8E5.