Mechanistic insight into the colloidal gas aphrons stability in the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons

[Display omitted] •Colloidal gas aphrons are introduced as a viable alternative to conventional foams.•Half-life of 1621.9 min and gas content of 45.42 % are their main characteristic.•Their median diameter is equal to 93.88 μm immediately after generation.•In the presence of crude oil and kerosene, half-life times are 1302.6 and 699.7 min.•Their multilayer structure is the main reason for appropriate colloidal stability. This study is primarily focusing on the development, generation, and characterization of a colloidal dispersion of microbubbles, known as colloidal gas aphrons as an effective flushing/invading agent during subsurface processes. A major challenge facing the subsurface applications of such colloidal systems, for example for the in-situ remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soils or enhanced oil recovery, is the influence of petroleum constituents on colloidal gas aphrons’ structure, consequently their stability. To investigate this issue which was not considered before, first, a series of bulk-scale experiments to study and optimize the properties of colloidal gas aphrons in terms of chemical formulation, structure, stability, the size distribution of bubbles, and gas content were designed and conducted. Then, the effect of the presence of two types of hydrocarbons, namely asphaltenic crude oil, and kerosene, on colloidal gas aphrons’ properties was evaluated. Results show that the unique multilayer structure of the colloidal gas aphrons developed in this research prevents the severe entry and spread of petroleum hydrocarbons into and on the layers of this colloidal system and provides proper colloidal stability than conventional foams in the presence and absence of petroleum hydrocarbons. In the absence of petroleum hydrocarbons, the best colloidal gas aphrons sample had a half-life time of 1621.9 min. The value decreased to 1302.6 min and 699.7 min when crude oil and kerosene were present, respectively. Generally, the results reveal that colloidal gas aphrons’ stability is not considerably influenced by the presence of petroleum constituents, and this suggested colloidal dispersion could be a viable alternative to conventional foams and other chemical-based strategies used in subsurface processes.