Surfactant Systems for EOR in High-Temperature, High-Salinity Environments

The research published in the past half century indicates that surfactant interfacial performance in producing low tension or high solubilization with polar oils is not generally attained with pure conventional species exhibiting well‐defined polar and nonpolar parts. The improvement trends reached with surfactant mixtures as well as the introduction of additives like cosurfactants and linkers lead to the introduction of the so‐called extended surfactants, whose structure includes an intermediate polarity spacer between the hydrophilic head and the lipophilic tail. Recent investigations on different kinds of surfactants in a variety of applications—such as detergency, cosmetics, enhanced oil recovery or crude demulsifying, and vegetable oil extraction—indicate that these extended surfactants are likely to be particularly performing with oils containing polar groups, such as triacylglycerols and asphaltenic crudes. Possible applications of extended surfactants in enhanced oil recovery, crude emulsion breaking, detergency and cleaning, medicine and cosmetics vehicles, and natural oil extraction as well as some other cases are quickly reviewed.

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“…They are shown in Fig. 4 (Barnes et al, 2008;Goethals et al, 2001;Hirasaki et al, 2004;Puerto et al, 2010;Scorzza et al, 2002a, b).…”

Section: Background Of Hld Variable Correlation Solubilization Intementioning

confidence: 94%

Extended Surfactants Including an Alkoxylated Central Part Intermediate Producing a Gradual Polarity Transition—A Review of the Properties Used in Applications Such as Enhanced Oil Recovery and Polar Oil Solubilization in Microemulsions

Salager

Forgiarini

Márquez

2019

J Surfact & Detergents

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“…This issue, particularly high-salinity problems, is not discussed here since it has been extensively reported in the literature, with many examples, although without quantitative rules [82,[84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95].…”

Section: Insensitivity To a Formulation Variable Change Reduced Sensimentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Attain Ultralow Interfacial Tension and Three‐Phase Behavior with Surfactant Formulation for Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Review. Part 4: Robustness of the Optimum Formulation Zone Through the Insensibility to Some Variables and the Occurrence of Complex Artifacts

Salager

Antón

Arandia

et al. 2017

J Surfact & Detergents

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In enhanced oil recovery, not only the low‐tension performance, but also the robustness at optimum formulation is an important issue. The fourth part of our review series is dedicated to robustness, defined as the width of the zone exhibiting three‐phase behavior around the optimum formulation, whatever the scanned variable. It is first corroborated from a screening of the available data in the literature that the tension minimum is inversely proportional to the square of the three‐phase range in the HLD scale. However, since there is still an inaccuracy of about a factor 10 in the tension minimum, some significant improvement can be attained in some cases by increasing the three‐phase behavior width in two ways. The first approach consists of finding systems that are insensitive to some formulation variable such as temperature, surfactant mixture composition or concentration, and water‐to‐oil ratio. The second way is to produce an artifact through which the optimum formulation is produced twice in a scan. If the distance between the two events in the scan is reduced down to be zero, their corresponding three‐phase behavior zones merge and result in a wider WIII region with a low tension. Several cases of such events are reported: alkaline scans, anionic‐nonionic and anionic‐cationic mixture changes, linear change in composition in three‐surfactant mixture, partial precipitation from a surfactant mixture in a salinity scan, and excessive partitioning of polyethoxylated nonionics. More complex transitions with three effects in a single scan or three concomitantly scanned variables show even more possibilities in practice.

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“…No birefringent phase was found under optical microscopy observation with crossed polarizers for all samples (not shown here). It is noteworthy that Puig et al (1982) showed that vesicles made from the lamellar phase of a single anionic surfactant by sonication could pass through Berea sandstone with low retention. However, vesicles from a single surfactant are thermodynamically unstable and revert to the lamellar phase over time.…”

Section: Salinity (% Nacl)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixtures of Anionic/Cationic Surfactants: A New Approach for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Low-Salinity, High-Temperature Sandstone Reservoir

Wei-dong

Kong

et al. 2016

SPE Journal

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Test results indicate that a lipophilic surfactant can be designed by mixing both hydrophilic anionic and cationic surfactants, which broaden the design of novel surfactant methodology and application scope for conventional chemical enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) methods. These mixtures produced ultralow critical micelle concentrations (CMCs), ultralow interfacial tension (IFT), and high oil solubilization that promote high tertiary oil recovery.Mixtures of anionic and cationic surfactants with molar excess of anionic surfactant for EOR applications in sandstone reservoirs are described in this study. Physical chemistry properties, such as surface tension, CMC, surface excess, and area per molecule of individual surfactants and their mixtures, were measured by the Wilhelmy (1863) plate method. Morphologies of surfactant solutions, both surfactant/polymer (SP) and alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP), were studied by cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM). Phase behaviors were recorded by visual inspection including crossed polarizers at different surfactant concentrations and different temperatures. IFTs between normal octane, crude oil, and surfactant solution were measured by the spinning-drop-tensiometer method. Properties of IFT, viscosity, and thermal stability of surfactant, SP, and ASP solutions were also tested. Static adsorption on sandstone was measured at reservoir temperature. IFT was measured before and after multiple contact adsorptions to recognize the influence of adsorption on interfacial properties. Forced displacements were conducted by flooding with water, SP, and ASP. The coreflooding experiments were conducted with synthetic brine with approximately 5,000 ppm of total dissolved solids (TDS), and with a crude oil from a Sinopec reservoir.

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Surfactant Systems for EOR in High-Temperature, High-Salinity Environments

Cited by 184 publications

References 17 publications

Extended Surfactants Including an Alkoxylated Central Part Intermediate Producing a Gradual Polarity Transition—A Review of the Properties Used in Applications Such as Enhanced Oil Recovery and Polar Oil Solubilization in Microemulsions

Extended Surfactants Including an Alkoxylated Central Part Intermediate Producing a Gradual Polarity Transition—A Review of the Properties Used in Applications Such as Enhanced Oil Recovery and Polar Oil Solubilization in Microemulsions

How to Attain Ultralow Interfacial Tension and Three‐Phase Behavior with Surfactant Formulation for Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Review. Part 4: Robustness of the Optimum Formulation Zone Through the Insensibility to Some Variables and the Occurrence of Complex Artifacts

Mixtures of Anionic/Cationic Surfactants: A New Approach for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Low-Salinity, High-Temperature Sandstone Reservoir

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