Disclosed are methods for making emulsions and emulsions, that in some embodiments can be considered to be Pickering emulsions.

The invention provides dispersed inorganic mixed metal oxide pigment compositions in a hydrocarbon media utilizing a dispersant having polyisobutylene succinic anhydride structure reacted with a non-polymeric amino ether/alcohol to disperse a mixed metal oxide pigment in the media. The metal oxide pigment is of the type used to color ceramic or glass articles. A milling process using beads is also described to reduce the mixed metal oxide particle size to the desired range. A method of using the mixed metal oxide dispersion to digitally print an image on a ceramic or glass article using the dispersion jetted through a nozzle and subsequently firing the colored article is also described.

A non-linear surfactant, and particularly a non-linear surfactant comprising bi-functionalized molecules or particles having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups. The non-linear surfactant includes a nanoparticle template of a rigid molecular structure, wherein the nanoparticle comprises a molecule or a particle that is bi-functionalized with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups to obtain an amphiphilic nanoparticle. The template nanoparticle can be used as a surfactant, wetting agent, emulsifier, detergent or other surface active agents or for the preparation of nanoemulsions or dispersions. The non-linear surfactant can provide smaller particle sizes for emulsion suspensions and foams.

According to embodiments, a method of producing a catalyst composition may include forming a slurry including an initial zeolite material, a surfactant, silica, and metal precursors, wherein the metal precursors contain a nickel-containing compound and a silver-containing compound, extruding the slurry to produce an extrudate, drying and calcining the extrudate to form a dried and calcined extrudate, hydrothermally treating the dried and calcined extrudate to form a hydrothermally-treated extrudate, and drying and calcining the hydrothermally-treated extrudate to produce the catalyst composition, wherein the catalyst composition includes zeolite, one or more oxides of nickel, and one or more oxides of silver.

The present invention is generally related to the analysis of chemical compositions of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon blends. This method, in particular embodiments, may apply specifically to the problem of analyzing extremely complex hydrocarbon-containing mixtures when the number and diversity of molecules makes it extremely difficult or impossible to realistically identify and quantify them individually in a reasonable timeframe. Particular SEC (size exclusion chromatography)-based methods and apparatus disclosed herein may be used to measure, e.g., the molecular size, weight, and/or volume, whether in absolute or relative manner, of the various components of eluate from the SEC stationary phase (e.g., a permeable gel). This analytical method is applicable on a wide variety of hydrocarbonaceous materials, and especially useful for, but not limited to oil, maltenes of oil, asphalt binders and asphalt binder blends, which may contain wide varieties of different types of additives, modifiers, and chemistries.

At least one embodiment of the inventive technology may involve the intentional changing of the stability of an emulsion from a first stability to a more desired, second stability upon the addition of a more aromatic asphaltene subfraction (perhaps even a most aromatic asphaltene subfraction), or a less aromatic asphaltene subfraction (perhaps even a least aromatic asphaltene subfraction) to a emulsion hydrocarbon of an oil emulsion, thereby increasing emulsion stability or decreasing emulsion stability, respectively. Precipitation and redissolution or sorbent-based techniques may be used to isolate a selected an asphaltene subfraction before its addition to an emulsion hydrocarbon when that hydrocarbon is part of an emulsion or an ingredient of a yet-to-be-formed emulsion.

The invention relates to a dispersion comprising a dispersion medium (phase I) and a disperse liquid phase II, the dispersion being characterized in that both phases I and II comprise a further dispersed phase III and this dispersed phase III comprises a release-active agent; to a process for preparing the dispersion, and to the use as or for the production of paints, inks, polymer dispersions and release agents.

In at least one embodiment, the inventive technology relates to in-vessel generation of a material from a solution of interest as part of a processing and/or analysis operation. Preferred embodiments of the in-vessel material generation (e.g., in-vessel solid material generation) include precipitation; in certain embodiments, analysis and/or processing of the solution of interest may include dissolution of the material, perhaps as part of a successive dissolution protocol using solvents of increasing ability to dissolve. Applications include, but are by no means limited to estimation of a coking onset and solution (e.g., oil) fractionating.

The present invention generally relates to compositions and methods for forming droplets and/or emulsions. In some embodiments, the compositions and methods comprise two or more components miscible at a first temperature and immiscible at a second temperature, dispersed in an outer phase.

The invention relates to an emulsion containing or consisting of (A) 40.00 to 97.98 wt. % of at least one hydrocarbon, (B) 2.00 to 59.98 wt. % of water or an aqueous solution of a salt which does not fall under the following definition according to (C) and (C) 0.02 to 8.00 wt. % of a salt of an amino amide of a fatty acid, containing at least one primary, secondary or tertiary amino group, and an acid component of general formula (I)

##STR00001## in which R.sup.1 is a linear or branched, saturated or mono-unsaturated or poly-unsaturated hydrocarbon radical with 1 to 40 C atoms, R.sup.2 is an alkylene radical or arylalkylene radical with 2 to 20 C atoms and X is a radical which contains at least one acid group, m=0 or 1, n=1 to 30, wherein the weight proportions of components (A), (B) and (C) relate to the sum of the masses of these components and this is 100 wt. %. The invention also relates to a method for the production of the emulsion, to an oil-based drilling mud and to a method for creating and stabilizing a drill hole.