Nonquilibrium and Equilibrium Stationary States of Zwitterionic Surfactant Dynamic Adsorption on Limestone Cores at Oil-Reservoir Conditions

Abstract

Dynamic adsorption of a zwitterionic-type surfactant cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine on limestone cores at oil reservoir conditions, i.e., under 2000 psi pressure, 130 °C temperature, and in the presence of seawater with 30 800 ppm NaCl, has been studied through core-flood displacement tests and in the absence of oil, at an injection rate of 120 cm3·h–1 up to 60 pore volumes (PV). The amount of adsorbed surfactant has been determined from mass balance by calculating its concentration through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The normalized surfactant concentrations (NSC) have been used in terms of the PV, and then they are obtained the corresponding dynamic adsorption curves. Dynamic adsorption isotherm curves of the zwitterionic surfactant diluted in seawater showed a steep rise between 1 and 3 pore volumes (PV), and the saturation conditions were kept up to 60 PV. An average surfactant adsorption of 0.1138 ± 0.0126 mg·g–1 was determined. Quantum theoretical studies show that the electronic energy gap of (104) the limestone is electrically neutral, preferably acquiring a negative charge tendency, these results imply that the calcite surface will preferentially interact with positive ions, so that the cations present in the solution interacting in the limestone, resulting in a positive charge in the rock that implies that the surfactant cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine interacts in the rock by the anionic group.

Comparative Study on the Static Adsorption Behavior of Zwitterionic Surfactants on Minerals in Middle Bakken Formation

“…Cationic parts are repulsed and anionic parts are attracted (Mode 3). Thereinto, the oblique configuration contributes to the minimum adsorption because of the largest contact area of a single molecule, 19,21 as illustrated in Figure 9. In addition, sulfobetaine with the sulfonate group was observed to have higher adsorption than that of betaine with the carboxylate group, which was contrary to the observations of Li.…”

“…Plenty of research studies have been conducted on the adsorption of traditional anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants onto formation rocks under the effects of salinity, salt ions, and temperature in the past several decades with either positively or negatively charged rocks and ionic or nonionic surfactants, − and there is scarce information about the adsorption isotherms and kinetics of zwitterionic surfactants, except Li et al studied the adsorption behavior of betaine-type surfactants on quartz sand in 2011. Nieto-Alvarez et al , and Wang et al figured out the adsorption characteristic of sulfobetaine on limestone. Jian et al researched the adsorption of betaine-type surfactants on carbonate surfaces.…”

Static and dynamic adsorption of supramolecular surfactant for oil recovery in high temperature and salinity conditions

“…Other characteristic of the cores are given in Table 2. The cores were dispersed in a mix 1:1 of toluene and hexane under reflux in a Soxhlet system for 10 days, then dried at 100 C in an oven for 48 h, and subsequently allowed to dry at room temperature (Nieto-Alvarez et al, 2018).…”

Wettability Alteration of Oil-Wet Carbonate Porous Media Using Silica Nanoparticles: Electrokinetic Characterization

“…Wettability alteration was introduced as a potential solution to overcome the low-efficiency problem of water flood EOR in oil-wet carbonate reservoirs. In this way, some remedies such as surfactant injection, 3,4 use of so-called potential determining ions, 5−7 alkaline-surfactant/alkaline-surfactant-polymer, 8−10 and smart water and low salinity water injection have been proposed. 11 Furthermore, the potential application of different nanoparticles (NPs) for wettability alteration of reservoir rocks had been demonstrated, 12−14 among which silica nanoparticles (SNPs) were regarded to be more productive and suitable.…”

“…Wettability alteration was introduced as a potential solution to overcome the low-efficiency problem of water flood EOR in oil-wet carbonate reservoirs. In this way, some remedies such as surfactant injection, , use of so-called potential determining ions, − alkaline-surfactant/alkaline-surfactant-polymer, − and smart water and low salinity water injection have been proposed …”