SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EMULSION BREAKING AND PHASE SEPARATION BY DROPLET ADHESION

摘要

Emulsion breaking and phase separation is achieved by droplet adhesion. An emulsion breaking device includes a channel having distinct adjacent zones with distinctly different surface wettability characteristics, namely, solvophilic and solvophobic surfaces. The device is positioned such that the upstream portion of the device is configured to be wetted by the continuous phase of the emulsion, and the downstream portion of the device is configured to be wetted by the dispersed phase of the emulsion. As the emulsion flows from the upstream zone to the downstream zone, the change in surface wettability characteristics promotes adhesion of the dispersed phase as the dispersed phase wets the surface of the downstream portion of the channel, which results in breaking of the emulsion. Subsequent collection of the broken emulsion in a collection vessel results in separation of the disparate phases to facilitate their recapture and recycling.

主权项

1. An emulsion-breaking device for breaking emulsions, the device comprising:
a body defining an elongated internal channel having an inner surface, a first zone of said channel having a solvophilic inner surface, a second zone of said channel having a solvophobic inner surface, the second zone and the first zone meeting at a boundary intermediate a length of the channel.