Summary Although the alkali/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding technique used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) was put forward many years ago, it was not until 2014 that it was first put into practice in industrial applications with hundreds of injectors and producers in the Daqing Oil Field in China. In this study, 30 ASP-flooding field tests in China were reviewed to promote the better use of this promising technology. Up to the present, ASP flooding in the Daqing Oil Field deserves the most attention. Alkali type does affect the ASP-flooding effect. Strong alkali [using sodium hydroxide (NaOH)] ASP flooding (SASP) was given more emphasis than weak alkali [using sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)] ASP flooding (WASP) for a long time in the Daqing Oil Field because of the lower interfacial tension (IFT) of the surfactant and the higher recovery associated with NaOH than with Na2CO3. Other ASP-flooding field tests completed in China all used Na2CO3. With progress in surfactant production, a recent large-scale WASP field test in the Daqing Oil Field produced an incremental oil recovery nearly 30% higher than most previous SASP recoveries and close to the value of the most-successful SASP test. However, the most-successful SASP test was partly attributed to the weak alkali factor. Recent studies have shown that the WASP incremental oil recovery factor could be as good as that of SASP but with much-better economic benefits. Screening of surfactant by IFT test is very important in the ASP-flooding practice in China. Whether dynamic or equilibrium IFT should be selected as criteria in surfactant screening is still in dispute. Many believe the equilibrium IFT is more important than the dynamic IFT in terms of the displacement efficiency; thus, it is better to choose a lower dynamic IFT when the equilibrium IFT meets the 10−3 order-of-magnitude requirement. However, it is impossible for many surfactants to form ultralow equilibrium IFT. Because of the low acid value of the Daqing crude oil, the asphaltene and resin components play a very important role in reducing the oil/water IFT and asphaltene is believed to be more influential, although more work is required to resolve this controversial issue. Whether polymer viscoelasticity can reduce the residual oil saturation is still a matter of debate. Advances in surfactant production and in the overcoming of scaling and produced-fluid-handling challenges form the foundation of the industrial application of ASP flooding. Further work is advised on the emulsification effect of ASP flooding. According to one field test, the EOR routine should be selected depending on consideration of the residual oil type to decide whether to increase the sweep volume and/or displacement efficiency. The micellar flooding failure in one ASP field test in China has led all subsequent field tests in China to choose the “low concentration, large slug” technical route instead of the “high concentration, small slug” one. ASP flooding can increase oil recovery by 30% at a cost of less than USD 30/bbl; thus, this technique can be used in response to low-oil-price challenges.

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Phase separation, which decreases the synergistic effect, are observed during amount of surfactant/polymer (SP) or alkali/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding field applications and laboratory experiments. The idea of adding hydrophobic groups to a water-soluble polymer is to make polymeric surfactant that could be applied in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). However, pole-scale displacement mechanisms and field performances of polymeric surfactant have not been investigated throughtly. In this work, we synthesized two types of polymeric surfactants and evaluated their physi-chemical properties, including chemical structure, rheological characteristic, emulsification and salt tolerance. Beside these physi-chemical property tests, a micro-visual model and core-flooding tests were performed to investigate the efficiency of polymeric surfactant flooding to recover the bypassed or trapped residual oil after water flooding. Finally, field performances of polymeric surfactant were estimated by monitoring the production dynamics and development index from a pilot test in Daqing oilfield. Results show that the polymeric surfactant has characteristics of strong viscosity, salt-resistance and emulsification. The high viscosity of the polymeric surfactant gurantantees a better mobility control than the ordinary polymer. What's more, the enhanced swept volume, emulsifiability and high elasticity makes the polymeric surfactant flooding has higher recovery factor than traditional polymer during chemical flooding. The heterogeneous core flooding experiments show that extra 10% overall recovery can be obtained with polymeric surfactant flooding after traditional polymer flooding. The application of the two types of polymeric surfactants in the pilot area shows that polymeric surfactants make the middle and low permeability zones absorb more water than traditional polymer flooding. If the surfactants were injected after water flooding, oil recovery can be improved by more than 20%, and significant reduction in water cut. With these unique properties and good performances for trials in the pilot test, polymeric surfactants can be considered as a replacement to the traditional polymer in highly heterogeneous reservoirs after water flooding or polymer flooding.

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Although Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flooding enhance oil recovery (EOR) technique has been put forward many years ago, it was not until 2014 that it is first put into industrial application in Daqing Oilfield in China. Under such low oil price, ASP flooding advance in China provides confidence for ASP flooding as a chemical EOR technology. In 2014, ASP flooding entered into industrial application stage first time in history. Crude oil production from ASP flooding in 2015 and 2016 in Daqing Oilfield was 3.5million and 4 million ton, which accounts for the 9% and 11% total oil production respectively. In 2016, another large scale ASP flooding field test in high temperature (81 °C) reservoir in central was seen staged incremental oil recovery 7.7% in central well zone. 30 ASP flooding field tests in China were reviewed to help promote wiser use of this promising technology. ASP flooding in Daqing Oilfield deserves most attention. Strong alkali (NaOH) ASP flooding (SASP) was given more emphasis than weak alkali alkali (Na2CO3) ASP flooding (WASP) in a long time in Daqing, lower interfacial tension(IFT) of surfactant and higher recovery in presence of NaOH than Na2CO3 the most important reason. Other ASP flooding field tests finished in China are all Na2CO3 based, including one using mixture of NaOH and Na2CO3. With progress in surfactant production, a recent large scale WASP field tests in Daqing was seen incremental oil recovery of near 30%, higher than most previous SASP ones, and near to the most successful SASP one. However, this most successful SASP was partly attributed to the weak alkali factor. Recent studies shows that WASP incremental oil recovery factor could be as good as SASP but with much better economic benefits. According to Daqing Oilfield review, the equipment IFT is more determinant than dynamic IFT in contribution to displacement efficiency, thus it is better to choose lower dynamic IFT when equilibrium IFT met the 10-3 orders of magnitude requirement. However, it is impossible for many surfactants to form equilibrium IFT, thus dynamic minimum IFT was chosen as criteria. For low acid value Daqing crude oil, asphaltene and resin component plays a very important role in reducing oil/water IFT, and asphaltene is believed more influential, though more work are required to answer this controversial issue. Progress in surfactant production, overcoming of scaling and produced fluid handling challenger is the foundation of ASP industrial application. Dynamic adjustment in ASP flooding is common practice in Daqing. For the compatibility between ASP and formation pore structure, especially considering emulsion and formation damage, no satisfactory standards are found yet. Further work should be on emulsification effect in ASP flooding. Mixture of cation and anion surfactants used in Henan Oilfield may be a good choice to face the high temperature challenge. Ultra-high temperature reservoir ASP flooding with organic alkali is under investigation and a field test is in schedule. It is very difficult to carry out ASP flooding in high temperature and high divalent cation reservoir and no success was seen in such kind of reservoirs in China. According to one field test, EOR routine should be selected with consideration of residual oil type to decide whether to enlarge sweep volume or/and displacement efficiency. Micellar flooding failure in Yumen Laojunmiao (YM-LJM) reservoir makes subsequent field tests choose the "small concentration large slug" technical route instead of "high concentration small slug" one like YM-LJM. ASP flooding can increase oil recovery by 30% and control the cost below 30 US dollar/bbl, thus it can be used to face low oil price challenge.

Wood is a biomass material that is easily eroded by wood-rotting fungi. Coptis chinensis is a natural green plant, which has an inhibitory effect on most microorganisms. Based on the highly toxic effects of the currently used wood chemical preservatives on humans, animals, and the environment, Coptis chinensis was selected to perform decay resistance experiments of wood in this paper. The active ingredients with bacteriostatic properties in Coptis chinensis were separated and screened via chemical treatment, and their structure was identified via nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The primary bacteriostatic components in Coptis chinensis were berberine hydrochloride, palmatine, and jatrorrhizine. The bacteriostatic zone experiment with a single component and different compounds for white-rot and brown-rot fungus were tested by the disc agar diffusion method. The bacteriostatic effect of berberine hydrochloride in a single active fraction was better. The three-fraction compound had the best bacteriostatic effect and was equivalent to alkaline copper quaternary. The natural active bacteriostatic fractions in Coptis chinensis had noticeable inhibitory effects on white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd) and brown-rot fungus (Gloeophyllum trabeum (Pers.) Murrill). The minimum bacteriostatic concentration was 0.01 g/mL. The results showed that Coptis extracts had potential as a wood protectant.

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In this study, a novel nanomaterial Cu2O/SiO2 was synthesized based on nano-SiO2, and the inhibitory effects of different concentrations of Cu2O/SiO2 on the growth of Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) were studied. At the same time, the mechanism of Cu2O/SiO2 inhibiting the growth of M. aeruginosa was discussed from the aspects of Cu2+ release, chlorophyll a destruction, oxidative damage, total protein, and the phycobiliprotein of algae cells. The results showed that low doses of Cu2O/SiO2 could promote the growth of M. aeruginosa. When the concentration of Cu2O/SiO2 reached 10 mg/L, it exhibited the best inhibitory effect on M. aeruginosa, and the relative inhibition rate reached 294% at 120 h. In terms of the algae inhibition mechanism, Cu2O/SiO2 will release Cu2+ in the solution and induce metal toxicity to algae cells. At the same time, M. aeruginosa might suffer oxidative damage by the free radicals, such as hydroxyl radicals released from Cu2O/SiO2, affecting the physiological characteristics of algae cells. Moreover, after the addition of Cu2O/SiO2, a decrease in the content of chlorophyll a, total soluble protein, and phycobiliprotein was found, which eventually led to the death of M. aeruginosa. Therefore, Cu2O/SiO2 can be used as an algaecide inhibitor for controlling harmful cyanobacteria blooms.