Is emulsion before adding naphtha possible?

[DoorSeeker]

I'm trying to clarify a misunderstanding I might have. I thought emulsion formed when one shakes the jar of too hard with the naphtha inside. SWIM shook it pretty hard when he first created the lye/water/bark solution. Now there is a foam layer. SWIM has not added naphtha yet. This is not an emulsion correct? One only gets an emulsion from shaking too hard with naphtha in the solution, yes? Thanks.

 

[benzyme]

the emulsion is created when there are solutes that are partially soluble in both phases. take the pH higher.

 

[DoorSeeker]

Okay so I got impatient and added the naphtha and as soon as I added it the foam went away. It seem to look fine now, at least from my very novice understanding of all of this. It looks like it was not an emulsion after all.

 

[Sakkadelic]

Okay so I got impatient and added the naphtha and as soon as I added it the foam went away. It seem to look fine now, at least from my very novice understanding of all of this. It looks like it was not an emulsion after all.

I just ran into the same thing added naphtha and the foam disappeared :thumb_up:
I used more than enough NaOH It's the first time i use salt so maybe it's bcz of that..

 

[syberdelic]

I can't be certain, but it sounds like there are some fats in the solution that are turning into soap when the lye is added. This would create suds or foam when agitated. I would guess that creating a non-polar mass on top of this foam would force the soaps to migrate to one layer or another. If I'm correct, expect to have to do some post extraction cleaning. This is why I never skip the defeating stage. I did it once with MHRB STB and never again.