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HENRY'S LAW CONSTANTS AND MICELLAR PARTITIONING OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN SURFACTANT SOLUTIONS
Citation:
Vane*, L M. AND E Giroux. HENRY'S LAW CONSTANTS AND MICELLAR PARTITIONING OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN SURFACTANT SOLUTIONS. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING DATA 45:38-47, (2000).
Description:
Partitioning of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into surfactant micelles affects the apparent vapor-liquid equilibrium of VOCs in surfactant solutions. This partitioning will complicate removal of VOCs from surfactant solutions by standard separation processes. Headspace experiments were performed to quantify the effect of four anionic surfactants and one nonionic surfactant on the Henry's Law constant of 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, toluene, and tetrachloroethylene at temperatures ranging from 30 to 60 C. Although the Henry's Law constant increased markedly with temperature for all solutions, the amount of VOC in micelles relative to that in the extramicellar region was comparatively insensitive to temperature. The effect of adding sodium chloride and isopropyl alcohol as co-solutes also was evaluated. Significant partitioning of VOCs into micelles was observed, with the micellar partitioning coefficient (tendency to partition from water into micelle) increasing according to the following series: trichloroethane < trichloroethylene < toluene < tetrachloroethylene. The addition of surfactant was capable of reversing the normal sequence observed in Henry's Law constants for these four VOCs.