Ultra-Low Interfacial Tension of a Surfactant under a Wide Range of Temperature and Salinity Conditions for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

Ultra-low interfacial tension (IFT) is an important parameter for selecting surfactants to apply in chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR). In this study, the IFT between the solution of the surfactant ANSM and Dagang crude oil was measured using the spinning drop method. The effects of the surfactant concentration, temperature, salt types and aging time on the IFT were investigated in detail. The results showed that ANSM effectively reduced the IFT without alkali. Ultra-low IFT was formed in a wide range of surfactant concentrations from 0.05∼ 0.5 wt.% and a wide range of temperatures from 20∼80°C. In addition, ANSM also showed great NaCl tolerance, with a maximum NaCl concentration of 130000 mg · L−1. Furthermore, 0.1 wt.% ANSM maintained an ultra-low IFT, even with 900 mg · L−1 CaCl2 or 1300 mg · L−1 MgCl2, in the presence of 10000 mg · L−1 NaCl. ANSM also had an excellent stability; the solution maintained the ultra-low IFT for 60 days at 90°C. Thus, ANSM proved itself as a potential candidate for CEOR.

Synergistic Efficiency of Zinc Oxide/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites and a New Derived Saponin in Liquid/Liquid/Solid Interface-Included Systems: Application in Nanotechnology-Assisted Enhanced Oil Recovery

“…Xu et al, Cheraghian et al, Haeri et al, Songolzadeh and Moghadasi, Zhao et al, and Zhong et al. have shown that the combinations of silica nanoparticles with different surfactants have a good potential to alter wettability from oil-wet to water-wet. − Suleimanov et al showed that nonferrous metal NPs can reduce IFT/surface tension . Mohajeri et al, by combining ZrO 2 NPs with sodium dodecyl sulfate and CTAB, showed that the nanofluids optimize IFT/surface tension and alter wettability …”

“…Mohajeri et al, by combining ZrO 2 NPs with sodium dodecyl sulfate and CTAB, showed that the nanofluids optimize IFT/surface tension and alter wettability Table S2 summarizes the studies on the synergistic effects of nanosurfactants. − …”