For oil companies, pipeline corrosion is a serious problem that causes both monetary and environmental problems. Corrosion inhibition through the implementation of surfactants can both save money for the oil companies, as well as protect the environment from oil pipeline corrosion-related disasters. These surfactants rely on the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of each specific surfactant for corrosion inhibition. The CMC of the surfactants is the point at which the surfactants completely cover the surface of the solution; while most of the surfactants forming micelles in the bulk of the solution. In this study, three surfactants with varying headgroups and tail lengths are used as model corrosion inhibitors. Their CMC values are determined using surface tensiometry and fluorescence spectroscopy. The CMC values were performed with different concentrations of each of the different surfactants under the same conditions.  In addition, the Nile Red dye is utilized using fluorescence spectroscopy since the surfactants do not fluoresce alone in the water. For example, the CMC value of the quaternary benzyl dimethyl ammonium chloride with a carbon length of 8 (C8 Quat) was determined to be 0.8 mM using the surface tensiometer. On the other hand, we expect to observe an increase in the fluorescence intensity when the surfactants form the micelles at the right concentration. The determination of the CMC values of the different model surfactants was successfully obtained in addition to other experiments used to test the effectivity of these surfactants as corrosion inhibitors.

Critical micelle concentration of surfactants tested using florescent spectroscopy and surface tensiometer for corrosion inhibition

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.