Interfacial tension measurement of freon hydrates by droplet deposition and contact angle measurements

This paper describes a new experimental method for estimating the interfacial energy between hydrates and a variety of liquids. It is shown to be possible to create a smooth freon-hydrate surface on the interface between an aqueous phase and an oil phase, and to deposit a droplet of another hydrocarbon-based phase on the waterside of that surface. The contact angles of such droplets with the hydrate surfaces have been measured directly, and also estimated using the ADSA-P method, with a number of additives to the oil, the aqueous and the droplet phases. The contact angle measurements are shown to give reproducible results, suitable for estimating the effect of additives on the interfacial energy. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.