ABSTRACT

Emulsions are among man-made commodities such as food goods [1,2], cosmetics [3,4], paints [5], agricultural sprays [6,7], asphalt preparations [8], and pharmaceuticals [4,7]. Emulsions are also found as undesired byproducts of industrial processes, including crude oil production [9,10] and liquid-liquid extraction operations [11]. Information on the microstructure and composition of an emulsion is relevant whether its making is sought or unwanted, because such information can be related to important properties of the dispersion such as its viscosity [12-14] and its stability against phase separation [15,16], and also to quality control standards. For example, the color [17] and texture (creaminess) [18] of food emulsions are known to depend on the distribution of droplet sizes; crude oil streams with emulsified water content in excess of a given threshold are not suited for processing in refining equipment [19].