Wettability under Imposed Flow as a Function of the Baking Temperatures of a DGEBA Epoxy Resin Used in the Crude Oil Industry

The baking temperature (Tb) of an epoxy resin was optimized in order to decrease the dynamic interfacial tension, identifying the lowest wettability conditions for liquids flowing at a high rate. The dependence of dynamic interfacial tension on Tb was evaluated for the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A. This resin was used to coat a sucking rod at the oil field of Bacia de Sergipe/Alagoas, Brazil in order to reduce blockage occurrences, maintenance stops, and the pumping capacity required. The samples were baked for 24 h between 100 and 180 °C. Their color and absorption spectra showed progressive dependence of Tb, indicating a migration from polymerization, through polymer network degradation, until carbonization. Spectrofluorimetry showed an initial increase in the energy gap between absorption and emission followed by a decrease that was attributed to changes of the chemical environment isotropy. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the maximum polymerization occurred at 140 °C. Dynamic in...