Insights into the Intimate Link between the Surfactant/Oil/Water Phase Behavior and the Successful Design of (Alkali)–Surfactant–Polymer Floods

Molinier, Valérie; Klimenko, Alexandra; Passade-Boupat, Nicolas; Bourrel, M.

doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.1c03189

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Winsor's R theory on the occurrence of particular phase behavior in surfactant-oil-water (SOW) systems when the interfacial interaction of the adsorbed surfactant with oil and water phases were equal was rediscovered, as has been explained in detail elsewhere [2,84,166]. The point was that the SOW formulation to attain a three-phase behavior in SOW systems corresponded to a (very low) minimum interfacial tension which was crucial for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) with surfactants [127,179].…”

Section: The Normalized Hydrophilic-lipophilic Deviation (Hld N ) As ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulation in Surfactant Systems: From-Winsor-to-HLDN

et al. 2022

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Formulation is an ancient concept, although the word has been used only recently. The first formulations made our civilization advance by inventing bronze, steel, and gunpowder; then, it was used in medieval alchemy. When chemistry became a science and with the golden age of organic synthesis, the second formulation period began. This made it possible to create new chemical species and new combinations “à la carte.” However, the research and developments were still carried out by trial and error. Finally, the third period of formulation history began after World War II, when the properties of a system were associated with its ingredients and the way they were assembled or combined. Therefore, the formulation and the systems’ phenomenology were related to the generation of some synergy to obtain a commercial product. Winsor’s formulation studies in the 1950s were enlightening for academy and industries that were studying empirically surfactant-oil-water (SOW) systems. One of its key characteristics was how the interfacial interaction of the adsorbed surfactant with oil and water phases could be equal by varying the physicochemical formulation of the system. Then, Hansen’s solubility parameter in the 1960s helped to reach a further understanding of the affinity of some substances to make them suitable to oil and water phases. In the 1970s, researchers such as Shinoda and Kunieda, and different groups working in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), among them Schechter and Wade’s group at the University of Texas, made formulation become a science by using semiempirical correlations to attain specific characteristics in a system (e.g., low oil-water interfacial tension, formulation of a stable O/W or W/O emulsion, or high-performance solubilization in a bicontinuous microemulsion system at the so-called optimum formulation). Nowadays, over 40 years of studies with the hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation equation (HLD) have made it feasible for formulators to improve products in many different applications using surfactants to attain a target system using HLD in its original or its normalized form, i.e., HLDN. Thus, it can be said that there is still current progress being made towards an interdisciplinary applied science with numerical guidelines. In the present work, the state-of-the-art of formulation in multiphase systems containing two immiscible phases like oil and water, and therefore systems with heterogeneous or micro-heterogeneous interfaces, is discussed. Surfactants, from simple to complex or polymeric, are generally present in such systems to solve a wide variety of problems in many areas. Some significant cases are presented here as examples dealing with petroleum, foods, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, detergency, and other products occurring as dispersions, emulsions, or foams that we find in our everyday lives.

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Section: The Normalized Hydrophilic-lipophilic Deviation (Hld N ) As ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulation in Surfactant Systems: From-Winsor-to-HLDN

et al. 2022

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“…Nevertheless, elevated salt levels and the presence of multivalent ions often induce the collapse of coherency, and thus, macromolecular solutions (sol) containing individual, separated polymer chains form . Such a sol–gel transition depends not only on the salinity and polymer concentration but also on other factors like temperature, chemical composition, and porosity of the oil reservoir, while it can be tuned by additives including surfactants, , solid particles, − or other surface active compounds. , It is obvious from these facts that a direct comparison of the efficiency of EOR polymers can be given only under the same reservoir conditions due to the sensitivity of the sol–gel transition process to environmental factors. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ion-Specific Effects on the Structure, Size, and Charge of Polymers Applied in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Vargáné Árok,

Sáringer,

Papp

et al. 2024

Energy Fuels

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Polymers are widely applied in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) utilizing the increased viscosity to sweep oil residuals from reservoirs, and thus, various types of polymers are available in the market. The salinity of the oil reservoirs is a key question in EOR processes since the chemical composition and concentration of salts in the underground water highly affect the viscoelastic properties of the EOR polymers. Here, four types of commercially available polymers containing AAM, AAC, and AMPS and hydrophilic monomers were studied, considering rheology, size, and charge features in aqueous solutions. The salinity-dependent coherent−incoherent (gel−sol) structural transitions were characterized by the transition salt concentration (TSC) values, which were sensitive to the valence of the counterions in the systems. The TSC data were also dependent on the rheology setup (rotational or oscillation), indicating the importance of the flow conditions in the oil reservoirs. The obtained data revealed that kosmotrope ions such as Ca 2+ are efficient in stabilizing the sol, i.e., macromolecular solution, state in contrast to chaotrope ions like Na + , whose presence led to higher TSC values. Other polymer−counterion interactions such as ion binding and charge screening also play crucial roles in the structure formation, size, and charge features of the polymers. The reported data are important to choose polymer solutions for EOR applications in reservoirs of different salinities.

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“…That is why the salinity of pre-flush fluid is designed to be above optimum salinity. Secondly, various experimental and modeling studies have shown a delay in surfactant breakthrough and reduced surfactant loss as a result of surfactant partitioning into the oleic phase when the pre-flush fluid has a salinity higher than the optimum salinity [58,62,63]. Finally, the postflush or chase fluid of below-optimum salinity can stimulate the partitioning of the retarded surfactant into the aqueous phase, generating Type III through to Type I microemulsion with ultra-low IFT and further reducing surfactant loss [64,65].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of Low Salinity Water/Surfactant Flooding Design for Oil-Wet Carbonate Reservoirs by Introducing a Negative Salinity Gradient

et al. 2022

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Engineered water surfactant flooding (EWSF) is a novel EOR technique to reduce residual oil saturation; however, it becomes quite challenging to obtain Winsor Type III microemulsion and the lowest IFT under actual reservoir conditions if only low salinity water is used. The main objective of this study was to design a negative salinity gradient to optimize the performance of the hybrid method. Three corefloods were performed on carbonate outcrop samples. The injection sequence in the first test was conventional waterflooding followed by optimum engineered water injection (2900 ppm) and finally an EWSF stage. The second and third tests were conducted using a varying negative salinity gradient. Engineered water for this study was designed by 10 times dilution of Caspian Sea water and spiking with key active ions. A higher salinity gradient was used for the first negative salinity gradient test. A total of 4300 ppm brine with 1 wt% surfactant was injected as a pre-flush after waterflooding followed by a further reduced salinity brine (~1400 ppm). The second negative salinity gradient test consisted of three post-waterflooding injection stages with salinities of 4600, 3700, and 290 ppm, respectively. Up to 8% and 16% more incremental oil recovery after waterflooding was obtained in the second and third tests, respectively, as compared to the first test. The descending order of brine salinity helped to create an optimum salinity environment for the surfactant despite surfactant adsorption. This study provided an optimum design for a successful LSSF test by adjusting the brine salinity and creating a negative salinity gradient during surfactant flooding. A higher reduction in residual oil saturation can be achieved by carefully designing an LSSF test, improving project economics.

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Insights into the Intimate Link between the Surfactant/Oil/Water Phase Behavior and the Successful Design of (Alkali)–Surfactant–Polymer Floods

Cited by 4 publications

References 28 publications

Formulation in Surfactant Systems: From-Winsor-to-HLDN

Formulation in Surfactant Systems: From-Winsor-to-HLDN

Ion-Specific Effects on the Structure, Size, and Charge of Polymers Applied in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Optimization of Low Salinity Water/Surfactant Flooding Design for Oil-Wet Carbonate Reservoirs by Introducing a Negative Salinity Gradient

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