title: PLURONIC x TETRONIC polyols: study of their properties and performance in the destabilization of emulsions formed in the petroleum industry.
abstract: In this work, a new family of branched poly(ethylene oxide-propylene oxide) (PEO-PPO) block copolymers designed as TETRONIC polyols is evaluated and compared to linear PEO-PPO block copolymers designed as PLURONIC polyols. Additives have been employed as well in order to improve solubility of these materials in aqueous solution. Such additives include the sodium p-toluene sulfonate (NaPTS) hydrotrope and concentrated hydrochloric acid. Solubility tests and aqueous solution surface tension data showed consistent results: the structure of the block PEO-PPO copolymers exerts a huge influence on their solubility in water. The solubility of such copolymers is increased by the presence of the sodium toluene sulfonate (NaPTS) hydrotrope. The presence of HCl caused increased solubility for the copolymer TETRONIC polyol only, the effect being less than that observed for the hydrotrope. It is concluded that as regards emulsion stabilization, TETRONIC copolymer polyols perform better. Correlation between structure and properties leads to the optimization of block PEO-PPO copolymer selection aiming at using these materials for the separation of petroleum industry emulsions.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Macromoléculas, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (IMA/UFRJ), C.T., Bloco J, P.O. Box 68525, 21945-970, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. celias@ima.ufrj.br
authors.forename: Claudia R E
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Mansur
authors.forename: Sheila P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Barboza
authors.forename: Gaspar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Elizabete F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Lucas