Pore Scale Dynamics of Microemulsion Formation.

Experiments in various porous media have shown that multiple parameters come into play when an oleic phase is displaced by an aqueous solution of surfactant. In general, the displacement efficiency is improved when the fluids become quasi-miscible. Understanding the phase behavior oil/water/surfactant systems is important because microemulsion has the ability to generate ultralow interfacial tension (<10(-2) mN m(-1)) that is required for miscibility to occur.