• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.219-225
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• 2007

The equilibrium solubilization capacity of pure hydrocarbon oils by 2.5 wt% $C_{12}E_8$ nonionic surfactant solution was measured at $30^{\circ}C$ by gas chromatography (GC) analysis. Experimental results indicated that the molar solubilization ratio (MSR) for pure alkanes was found to decrease almost linearly with the alkane carbon number (ACN) of the hydrocarbon oil. For the binary mixture systems of the hydrocarbon oils both selective and nonselective solubilization behaviors were observed depending on the difference in carbon number of the two hydrocarbon oils. Equilibrium solubilization tests for the two n-octane/n-nonane and n-nonane/n-decane mixture systems in $C_{12}E_8$ surfactant solutions suggest slightly selective solubilization in favor of n-octane, but the small difference in solubilization rates between two hydrocarbon oils does not allow ruling out non-selective solubilization for these particular systems. This is certainly not the case for the n-octane/n-decane mixture, for which selective solubilization was conclusively demonstrated by GC analysis data.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.59-65
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• 2008

The equilibrium solubilization capacity of the mixture of hydrocarbon oils by $C_{12}E_8$ nonionic surfactant micellar solution was measured at $23^{\circ}C$ by gas chromatography (GC) analysis. Experimental results indicated that the solubilization capacity for pure alkanes was found to decrease almost linearly with the alkane carbon number (ACN) of the hydrocarbon oil. For the binary mixture systems of the hydrocarbon oils both selective and nonselective solubilization behaviors were observed depending on the difference in ACN of the two hydrocarbon oils. Equilibrium solubilization tests for the hydrocarbon oil mixtures in $C_{12}E_8$ surfactant solutions such as the three n-octane/n-nonane, n-nonane/n-decane and n-decane/n-undecane mixture systems suggest almost non-selective solubilization. On the other hand, the n-octane/n-decane and n-octane/n-undecane systems, where difference in ACN of the two hydrocarbon oils is greater than 1, selective solubilization in favor of n-octane was conclusively demonstrated.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2009

In this study, solubilization experiments of n-decane, n-undecane and n-dodecane oil were performed by micellar solutions of polymeric nonionic surfactant Pluronic L64($EO_{13}PO_{30}EO_{13}$) at room temperature. A single spherical drop of hydrocarbon oil was injected into aqueous surfactant solution using an oil drop contacting technique and solubilization rate of hydrocarbon oil was measured by observing the size of oil drop with time. It was shown that solubilization rate decreased with the alkane carbon number(ACN) of the hydrocarbon oil. The solubilization rate was also found to be independent of initial oil dorp size and almost linearly proportional to the initial surfactant concentration. These results revealed that solubilization of n-decane, n-undecane and n-dodecane oils by L64 micellar solution is controlled by interface-controlled mechanism but not by diffusion-controlled mechanism. The equilibrium solubilization capacity(ESC) was measured by a turbidimeter and the result showed that EAC decreased with an increase in ACN but increased with both increases in surfactant concentration and solubilization rate. Dynamic interfacial tension measurements showed that interfacial tension and equilibrium time increased with an increase in ACN of hydrocarbon oil but decreased with an increase in surfactant concentration.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.375-380
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• 2003

This study was carried out 1) to investigate the pH effect on solubilization of phenanthrene by biosurfactant in aqueous system and 2) to evaluate the pH effect on the biodegradation rate of phenanthrene in the presence and the absence of the biosurfactant by phenanthrene degraders. Tween 80, which is a chemically synthesized surfactant, showed greater solubilizing capacity than rhamnolipid. The solubilization capacity can be expressed as a MSR(molar solubilization ratio=moles of organic compounds solubilized per mole of surfactant). The calculated MSR of Tween 80 and rhamnolipid were 0.1449 and 0.0425 respectively. The kinetic study of phenanthrene solubilization by rhamnolipid showed that solubilization mechanism could reach equilibrium within 24 hours. Addition of 240 ppm rhamnolipid solution, which concentration is 4.3 times of Critical Micelle Concentration(CMC), caused 9 times solubility enhancement compared to water solubility. The highest solubilities were detected around a pH range of 4.5-5.5. Changes in apparent solubility with the changes in pH are possibly related to the fact that the rhamnolipid, an anionic surfactant, can form different structures depending on the pH. Two biodegradation experiments were performed in the absence and the presence of rhamnolipid, with the cell growth investigated using a spread plate method. The specific growth rates at pH 6 and 7 were higher than at the other pH, and the HPLC analysis data, for the total phenanthrene loss, confirmed the trends in the $\mu$(specific growth rate) values. In presence of rhamnolipid, maximum $\mu$ values shifted from around pH 5 which showed maximum enhancement of solubility in the abiotic experiment, compared to the $\mu$ values obtained without the biosurfactant. In this study, the increase in the observed specific grow rate(1.44 times) was not as high as the increase in solubilization(5 times). This was supported by the fact all the solubilized phenanthrene is not bioavailable to microorganisms.