What is surfactant and why must it be added to the reservoir?
Chemicals that can affect the surface tension effects are called surface active agents, or more commonly, surfactants. The effect most required si to incease the affinity between water and solids to ensure thorough wetting for cleaning or other process purposes. Such surfactants are commonly called wetting agents or detergents. Surfactants increase the affinity of water to solid materials thus making the less hydrophobic and more hydrophilic, thus more readily wetting. Astrip contains a surfactant, which increases the affinity of the liquid to fibre. The temperature of the liquid also has a significant bearing on the surface tension effects. At higher temperatures the increased energy of the liquid molecules may overcome adverse surface tension effects which apply at lower temperatures. When the liquid cools, however, the normal temperature situation is likely to be re-established. It is impracticable to introduce hot liquids to ACM’s at a reasonable cost.
