Abstract

An in-Depth Analysis of Ethanol Based Aqueous Foams for Environmental Applications

Author(s): Pradipta Chattopadhyay and R. Arun Karthick

The foamability parameters of surfactant generated aqueous ethanol based foams are critical for remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil. To gain more insight into foams that will be suitable for this application, different aqueous foams were generated by the use of ethanol, surfactant Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), constant injection of air and then tested for foaming capability, using a Dynamic Foam Analyzer (Kruss GmbH, Germany). The results showed that 30 volume % ethanol solution with 10 mg of SLS added was the best in terms of foamability and thus well suited for soil remediation.