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Industrial Fluid

Abstract: An industrial fluid is disclosed. The fluid comprises an oleaginous component, an aqueous component, and a surfactant. Substantially all of the surfactant is bound within micelles of the oleaginous component. This results in there being substantially no unbound surfactant present in the fluid. The industrial fluid is also substantially flee from insoluble defoamers or anti-foam compounds.

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Patent Information

Application #
Filing Date
24 December 2018
Publication Number
11/2019
Publication Type
INA
Invention Field
POLYMER TECHNOLOGY
Status
Email
iprdel@lakshmisri.com
Parent Application

Applicants

CASTROL LIMITED
Technology Centre Whitchurch Hill Pangbourne Reading RG8 7QR

Inventors

1. HENDRIKSEN, Andre
Erkelenzer Strasse 20 D-41179 Moenchengladbach
2. HUDSON, Robert Paul
Whitchurch Hill Pangbourne Reading Berkshire RG8 7QR
3. PESCHEL, Hendrik
Erkelenzer Strasse 20 D-41179 Moenchengladbach

Specification

The present invention relates to an industrial fluid, in particular an industrial fluid comprising an oleaginous component, an aqueous component and a surfactant. Industrial fluids find many applications within industry, such as lubricating fluids, coolants and fuels. For example, these range from powering vehicles, cooling drilling apparatus, lubricating car engines and gear boxes, to subsea machinery, wind turbines, power generators and materials processing (cutting, grinding, rolling) to name but a few. Each of these industrial fluids has in common a basic composition of an oleaginous component, an aqueous component and a surfactant dispersed in the aqueous component to form an emulsion. Such oleaginous components are typically derived from hydrocarbon sources by, for example, the refining of crude oil or shale oil, or esterification. Including aqueous components into an oleaginous base or vice versa involves the use of emulsifiers to create an emulsion, since such aqueous and oleaginous materials are naturally immiscible. Examples of industrial fluids comprising aqueous emulsions include metalworking fluids and other water-based fluids. Surfactants are typically used to emulsify the aqueous and oleaginous components, with sufficient surfactant included to ensure that the emulsion forms completely. Ideally there should be no residual immiscible components, and the emulsion should be stable, such that the individual components do not separate out during storage or use. Using too much surfactant however can result in foaming of the emulsified mixture, either immediately on mixing or during use. To reduce the likelihood of this occurring defoamers or antifoam compounds are also included in the industrial fluid to prevent formation of or reduce the amount of foam due to surfactants. This combination results in stable emulsions with reduced tendency to foam. It would be advantageous however to be able to produce industrial fluids as complete, stable emulsions, without the use of defoamers or a surplus of surfactants. The present invention aims to address this need by providing, in a first aspect, an oleaginous component; an aqueous component; and a surfactant; wherein the oleaginous component and the surfactant form micelles, wherein the surfactant is bound within the micelles such that there is substantially no unbound surfactant present in the industrial fluid, and wherein, in use, the industrial fluid is used undiluted, diluted with a diluent or as an additive to a carrier fluid. In another aspect the present invention provides a method of forming an industrial fluid, comprising: forming a first fluid comprising a surfactant; forniing a second fluid comprising an oleaginous compound; mixing the first fluid and the second fluid under a shear force to produce an intermediate fluid; and mixing an aqueous fluid and the intermediate fluid under laminar flow to create an industrial fluid. In yet a further aspect, the present invention provides an industrial fluid made using such method. The present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to illustrative embodiments. Embodiments of the invention take the approach that an industrial fluid may comprise oleaginous components and aqueous components. Oleaginous components, such as mineral oils and base oil stocks, may be emulsified with aqueous components, such as water, as long as there is a surfactant dispersed in the aqueous component. Such aqueous emulsions are used in various applications including lubrication and metalworking. These emulsions may be used undiluted or diluted using a diluent such as water. Alternatively, the emulsions may be used as an additive to impart various properties when mixed with a carrier fluid. The carrier fluid may be chosen from lubricating, energy dissipating or energy generating fluids, such that the industrial fluid becomes an additive to these, with these fluids themselves comprising emulsions. However, by forming a micelle structure wherein substantially all of the surfactant is bound up in the micelle structure, substantially no unbound surfactant is present within the industrial fluid. This removes the need to use insoluble defoamers and/or anti-foam compounds to compensate for foaming caused by excess surfactant, such that the industrial fluid is substantially free of defoamers or anti-foam compounds. This is also the case when the industrial fluid is used as an additive to an emulsion or other earner fluid. In addition, the industrial fluid does not add to any foaming behaviour, and/or may have a tendency to reduce any foaming of the carrier fluid. A micelle is an aggregate of surfactant molecules dispersed in a colloid, where particles of a first material are suspended in a second material, creating a two-phase system. Unlike in a solution, the first material is insoluble or immiscible in the second material so becomes an emulsion. In an aqueous solution a micelle forms an aggregate with the hydrophobic tails of the surfactant molecules facing inwards and the hydrophilic heads of the surfactant molecules facing outwards. This forms a normal-phase micelle, leading to an oil-in-water phase mixture. An inverse-phase micelle has the inverse structure, where the hydrophilic heads of the surfactant molecules face inwards and the hydrophobic tails face outwards. This leads to a water-in-oil phase mixture. The packing behaviour of the surfactant molecules leads to a single layer of surfactant molecules around the core of the micelle, which, following surface energy considerations, typically forms a sphere. Further layers of surfactant may also be packed around the outside of the micelle. This will be the case when further surfactant is added to the mixture, as in the present invention. For example, when shear forces are applied to an oleaginous component this causes the molecules of the oleaginous component to stretch. This stretching causes the molecules to flatten out and tend towards a laminar structure, thus increasing the surface area any surfactant has available to be attracted to. Coupled with a laminar flow around the molecule of an aqueous fluid (dispersion of surfactant in water), the packing fraction of the surfactant increases from \I2. Once the shear force is removed the molecule forms a spherical micelle due to surface energy considerations, unless, of course, the structure of the surfactant causes the minimum surface energy configuration of a micelle to be laminar or cylindrical. For example, Gemini surfactants, sometimes known as dimeric surfactants, have two hydrophobic tails, that distort the core of the micelle into an elongated ovoid shape. At the point the shear force is removed, the surfactant packing fraction reduces back to

Documents

Application Documents

# Name Date
1 201817048998.pdf 2018-12-24
2 201817048998-STATEMENT OF UNDERTAKING (FORM 3) [24-12-2018(online)].pdf 2018-12-24
3 201817048998-POWER OF AUTHORITY [24-12-2018(online)].pdf 2018-12-24
4 201817048998-FORM 1 [24-12-2018(online)].pdf 2018-12-24
5 201817048998-DECLARATION OF INVENTORSHIP (FORM 5) [24-12-2018(online)].pdf 2018-12-24
6 201817048998-COMPLETE SPECIFICATION [24-12-2018(online)].pdf 2018-12-24
7 201817048998-FORM 3 [07-06-2019(online)].pdf 2019-06-07
8 201817048998-PETITION UNDER RULE 138 [24-06-2019(online)].pdf 2019-06-24
9 201817048998-Proof of Right (MANDATORY) [24-07-2019(online)].pdf 2019-07-24
10 201817048998-OTHERS-070819.pdf 2019-08-10
11 201817048998-Correspondence-070819.pdf 2019-08-10
12 201817048998-FORM 3 [02-06-2020(online)].pdf 2020-06-02
13 201817048998-FORM 3 [03-07-2020(online)].pdf 2020-07-03
14 201817048998-FORM 18 [03-07-2020(online)].pdf 2020-07-03
15 201817048998-FORM 3 [07-01-2021(online)].pdf 2021-01-07
16 201817048998-Response to office action [28-07-2021(online)].pdf 2021-07-28
17 201817048998-FER.pdf 2021-10-18
18 201817048998-Information under section 8(2) [21-03-2022(online)].pdf 2022-03-21
19 201817048998-FORM 3 [22-03-2022(online)].pdf 2022-03-22
20 201817048998-FER_SER_REPLY [30-03-2022(online)].pdf 2022-03-30
21 201817048998-CLAIMS [30-03-2022(online)].pdf 2022-03-30
22 201817048998-ABSTRACT [30-03-2022(online)].pdf 2022-03-30
23 201817048998-US(14)-HearingNotice-(HearingDate-07-12-2022).pdf 2022-11-17
24 201817048998-Correspondence to notify the Controller [05-12-2022(online)].pdf 2022-12-05

Search Strategy

1 SearchStrategy1E_21-01-2021.pdf