Clarence A. Miller

Research Interests:

Interfacial Phenomena

Education:

B.S. (1961) Rice University

Ph.D. (1969) University of Minnesota

Interfacial phenomena, especially those involving surfactants, are the focus of Professor Miller’s current research. The increased emphasis in the chemical industry on specialty products has brought with it increased interest in surfactants and their applications in detergency, pharmaceutical and food products, petroleum production, ground water cleanup, agricultural chemicals, personal care products, etc.

Phenomena involving diffusion are important in many applications of surfactants. Because various types of micellar solutions, microemulsions, and lyotropic liquid crystals can form in surfactant/water and surfactant/oil/water systems, diffusion is frequently accompanied by phase transformations. Enhanced videomicroscopy has been used to observe a variety of dynamic phenomena exhibiting simultaneous diffusion and phase transformation. Phase behavior is studied as well because it is of inherent interest and must be known to understand the dynamic processes. The second paper below summarizes work of this type which helped clarify the mechanisms of oily soil removal in cold and warm water washing processes. Current projects include:

Dissolution Rates of Surfactants: In washing processes it is necessary that the surfactants dissolve rapidly in water. Because viscous liquid crystalline phases are formed during dissolution of most surfactants, the dissolution process is sometimes slow. Initial work on this topic is described in the sixth paper below.

Foam Flow in Porous Media: Both laboratory experiments and numerical simulation are being used to develop a better understanding of foam flow in porous media. The seventh and twelth papers below present some of the fundamental studies and indicate how foam flow can improve the efficiency of surfactant processes for remediation of ground water aquifers. This work is being done in collaboration with Professor Hirasaki.

Transport in Emulsions: No consensus exists on whether transport in emulsions is controlled by diffusion of surfactant micelles in the continuous phase or by interfacial phenomena. The fifth paper below and subsequent work to be published indicate that interfacial phenomena are controlling for emulsions stabilized by nonionic surfactants.

Selected Publications

1. C.A. Miller and P. Neogi, Interfacial Phenomena, New York, Marcel Dekker, 1985.
   
2. C.A. Miller and K.H. Raney, "Solubilization-emulsification mechanisms of detergency," Colloids and Surfaces 74, 169-215 (1993).
   
3. G. Singh, G.J. Hirasaki, and C.A. Miller, "Dynamics of foam films in constricted pores", AIChE Journal 43, 3241-3252 (1997).
   
4. T. Nishimi and C.A. Miller, "Spontaneous emulsification produced by chemical
   reactions," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 237, 259-266 (2001).
   
5. A.A. Peña and C.A. Miller, "Kinetics of compositional ripening in emulsions stabilized with nonionic surfactants," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 244, 154-163 (2001).
6. Bing-Hung Chen, Clarence A. Miller, John M. Walsh, Patrick B. Warren, J. Noel Ruddock, Peter R. Garrett, "Dissolution Rates of Pure Nonionic Surfactants," Langmuir, 16, 5276-5283 (2000).
7. Dicksen Tanzil, George J. Hirasaki, Clarence A. Miller, "Mobility of Foam in Heterogeneous Media: Flow Parallel and Perpendicular to Stratification," Soc. Petrol. Eng. Preprint 63228, Presented at Annual Technical Conference, Dallas, October ( 2000).
8. Moon-Jeong Rang and Clarence A. Miller , "Spontaneous Emulsification of Oils Containing Hydrocarbon, Nonionic Surfactant, and Oleyl Alcohol," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 209 (1999): 179-192
9. Clarence A. Miller and Moon-Jeong Rang , "Spontaneous Emulsification in Oil-Water-Surfactant Systems," Emulsions, Foams, and Thin Films, Mittal and Kumar (eds.), Ch. 5, Marcel Dekker (2000).
10. B.H. Chen, C.A. Miller, P.R. Garrett, "Rates of Solubilization of Triolein/Fatty Acid Mixtures," Langmuir, 14 (1998): 31-41
11. M.J. Rang, C.A. Miller, "Spontaneous Emulsification of Oil Drops Containing Surfactants and Medium-Chain Alcohols," Progress in Colloid and Polymer Science, 109 (1998): 101-117
12. R. Szafranski, J.B. Lawson, G.J. Hirasaki, C.A. Miller, N. Akiya, S. King, R.E. Jackson, H. Meinardus, J. Londergan, "Surfactant/Foam Process for Improved Efficiency of Aquifer Remediation," Progress in Colloid and Polymer Science, 111 (1998): 162-167.

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