RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF SYNTHESIZED SURFACTANTS

• Main Author: SAMSUDIN, SHAHROL HAIRY
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Teknologi Petronas 2005
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/8172/1/2005%20Bachelor%20-%20Rheological%20Properties%20Of%20Synthesized%20Surfactants.pdf; http://utpedia.utp.edu.my/8172/

Surfactants are surface-active substances of complex lipids. In nature, surfactants are substances consisting of lipoprotein that is secreted by the alveolar cells of the lung and serves to maintain the stability of pulmonary tissue by reducing the surface tension of fluids that coat the lung [1]. From other point of view, surfactants act as 'soap'. It has the ability to reduce the surface tension of a fluid that is in contact with a solid wall by breakingthe strong adhesive forces between the fluid and the wall. A synthesized surfactant can be produced by the reaction of a fatty acid and a base. Basically, the project is divided into 2 major phases: 1. Synthesizing a surfactant 2. Characterizing the Rheological Properties of The Synthesized Surfactants For the first phase, fatty acids will be extracted from palm oil and purified. The purification involved 4 steps: bleachingpalm oil color, deodorization, hydrolysis, and phase separation. Then, the fatty acidsproduced from the purification of palm oil process will be reacted with a strong base (potassium hydroxide) in saponification process to form a surfactant. In the second phase, the rheological properties of the synthesized surfactant were evaluated. The study of rheological properties of surfactant will comprised boiling point determination, conductivity of surfactant at different concentrations, and surfactant viscosity over time for various temperature, and phase separation. A critical concentration dependency is demonstratedby the surfactant on the properties investigated.