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Surfactants and Detergents

Session:: Surfactants in Oil and Gas - Part I

Effect of a polymeric surfactant formulation for chemical-enhanced oil recovery processes over a Colombian crude oil sample

Tuesday, May 2, 2023
11:40 AM – 12:00 PM MDT
Room: 405
Abstract: In an enhanced oil recovery method by chemical injection with polymers or surfactants, increasing capillary number provides the displacement of the oil trapped in the porous medium. Polymer and surfactant flooding are associated with a sort of problems such as retention, thermal, shear stress and chemical degradation. Those effects happen mainly due to the high salinity or hardness in brine composition and reservoir temperature. Investigations seeking alternatives have been developed where the study of polymeric surfactants, as interfacially active polymers, has been one of the most prominent recently. In the present study, interfacial tension and viscosity measurements were carried out on aqueous solutions containing polymeric surfactants, varying parameters such as salinity, temperature, and chemical concentration. At 50 °C higher viscosity and lower interfacial tensions are obtained both contributing to higher capillary numbers. Unlike conventional surfactants and polymers, polymeric surfactants improve the viscosity of the solution and reduce interfacial tension at the same time when parameters such as flow regime, salinity and temperature are setting in certain ranges. As a result, an improvement in the recovery factor in displacement was observed with the use of this polymeric surfactant with respect to a common surfactant-polymer process. As conclusion, the use of this type of chemical agent improves the process, both in the resistance it presents to the variation of operational parameters such as temperature and salinity, as well as an impact on the recovery factor in the process during displacement tests.