Abstract
This work attempted to establish the relationship between the dispersion morphology and the viscous flow behavior of clay dispersions in soybean oil fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) at 2 and 65 °C. The clays used in this study include raw montmorillonite (Mt) and three kinds of organoclays prepared by ion exchange modification of Mt by cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (OC16), dihexadecyldimethylammonium chloride (ODC16), and trihexadecylmethylammonium chloride (OTC16), respectively. The X-ray diffraction and water contact angle results demonstrated that greater alkyl chain number of surfactants led to greater interlayer space and stronger hydrophobicity of organoclays. Due to the good affinity of the surfactant and FAEE, OC16 exhibited the most stable dispersion in FAEE between 2-65 °C, which resulted in the best flat rheological property. The molecular structures of multiple chain surfactants were quite different from that of FAEE, resulting in weak affinity between organoclays (ODC16 and OTC16) and FAEE. The sheets of ODC16 and OTC16 tended to aggregate at 2 °C, forming a gel structure, thus significantly increasing the low shear rate viscosity (LSRV) and yield stress. At 65 °C, with the expansion of FAEE and the stronger thermal motion of sheets, the dispersions of ODC16 and OTC16 were improved, destroying the original gel structure and resulting in significant decreases in LSRV and yield stress. This study confirmed that stable clay/FAEE dispersions tended to exhibit flat rheology, which could serve as a basis for the application of clay/biodiesel dispersion in deep-water drilling.