Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Chemical Analysis of Water-accommodated Fractions of Crude Oil Spills Using TIMS-FT-ICR MS
Published on: March 3, 2017
The EACN scale for oil classification revisited thanks to fish diagrams
S Queste1, J L Salager, R Strey
1LCOM, Equipe Oxydation et Formulation, ENSCL BP 90108, F-59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
Abstract:
The phase behavior of C(10)E(4)-oil-water systems at constant o/w ratio and variable temperature (fish diagram) has been investigated for several homologous oil families. The temperature T( *) and surfactant concentration C( *) at the critical point were determined for 10 n-alkanes varying from C(6) to C(28) as well as for a series of alkylcyclohexanes and alkylbenzenes. On the basis of T( *), equivalent alkane carbon numbers (EACN) were assigned to nonlinear alkanes, alkylbenzenes, and alkylcyclohexanes. The consistency of the method was shown by corroborating that the EACN values of oils previously investigated with other C(i)E(j) (dibutyl ether, squalane, isopropyl myristate, and dodecylbenzene) are the same when determined with C(10)E(4). The fact that two oils of different nature but with the same EACN (i.e., the same T( *)) do not exhibit the same C( *) is discussed in terms of monomeric solubility of the surfactant in the oil (CMC(oil)).
Related Concept Videos
Modeling and Similitude
Design Example: Flow of Oil Through Circular Pipes
Scaling
Ordinal Level of Measurement
Data measured using an ordinal scale are similar to nominal scale data, but there is one major difference. The ordinal scale data can be ordered. An example of ordinal scale data is a list of the top five national parks in the...
Imaging Biological Samples with Optical Microscopy
In optical microscopy, the specimen to be viewed is placed on a glass slide and clipped on the stage...
Typical Model Studies

