Investigation of Vegetable Oil-based Nonionic Surfactants for the Petroleum Industry

Abstract

Nowadays, surfactants find extensive use across various industries owing to their versatile and beneficial characteristics, serving as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming or dispersing agents, spanning from the food and cosmetics industries to heavy industry. Non-ionic surfactants constitute one of the most diverse groups within this domain. Within the realm of surfactants, factors such as application efficiency, environmental friendliness, and sustainability are increasingly significant. To enhance these properties, utilizing natural and recycled raw materials presents a viable solution, particularly surfactants derived from vegetable and animal oils and fats or their derivatives, which constitute a significant portion of the market. The primary objective was to synthesize non-ionic surfactants using natural vegetable oil and recycled vegetable oil. The physicochemical properties of the produced nonionic surfactants were determined through analytical testing, along with assessing their applicability using impact assessment methods. The study compared results and drew conclusions regarding the correlation between the properties of the raw materials and those of the final products.