Further studies into oil droplet size manipulation

Recent work has shown that heating degassed oil-in-water emulsions causes a significant reduction in the oil droplet size. The results presented here report further work on the effect of changes in salt concentration, oil/water ratio, pH and heating, on the oil droplet sizes of dispersions produced by the de-gassing process. The change in particle or droplet size for long, straight chain hydrocarbon oils, dispersed in water by degassing, is also reported here. These oils, of 20-24 carbon units in length, are liquid when heated above 50 degrees C but are solid at room temperature. The particle size of these dispersions was also monitored during the phase transition from liquid to solid, on cooling. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.