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Collaborating Authors
Results
A Systematic Method for Reducing Surfactant Retention to Extremely Low Levels
Jang, Sung Hyun (The University of Texas at Austin) | Liyanage, Pathma Jith (The University of Texas at Austin) | Tagavifar, Mohsen (The University of Texas at Austin) | Chang, Leonard (The University of Texas at Austin) | Upamali, Karasinghe A. (The University of Texas at Austin) | Lansakara-P, Dharmika (The University of Texas at Austin) | Weerasooriya, Upali (The University of Texas at Austin) | Pope, Gary A. (The University of Texas at Austin)
Abstract The chemical cost to recover an incremental barrel of oil is directly proportional to the surfactant retention, so the single most effective way to reduce the cost is to reduce surfactant retention. The main objective of this research was to demonstrate how surfactant retention could be reduced to almost zero by careful optimization of the chemical formulations for different crude oils. Although surfactant retention has been studied for many years over a wide range of reservoir conditions, its dependence on the rheological behavior of the microemulsion that forms in-situ has not been adequately studied. Thus, in this paper we emphasize the importance of microemulsion rheology and demonstrate how to develop and test formulations with properties that give very low surfactant retention. Novel co-solvents (iso-butanol (IBA) alkoxylates and phenol alkoxylates) were tested in some of the formulations with excellent results. Unlike classical co-solvents used to optimize chemical formulations, the new co-solvents cause only a slight increase in the interfacial tension. A series of ASP corefloods were performed in sandstone cores with and without oil to measure surfactant and co-solvent retention and to elucidate the effects of microemulsion viscosity, salinity gradient, clay content, surfactant concentration and other variables. Dynamic adsorption was measured in cores with the same mineralogy and compared with the retention from oil recovery corefloods to determine the component of the retention due to phase trapping.
- Geology > Mineral > Silicate > Phyllosilicate (0.68)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Sandstone (0.36)
- Materials > Chemicals > Commodity Chemicals > Petrochemicals (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
New Surfactants and Co-Solvents Increase Oil Recovery and Reduce Cost
A. Nadeeka Upamali, Karasinghe (The University of Texas at Austin) | Liyanage, Pathma Jith (The University of Texas at Austin) | Cai, Jiajia (The University of Texas at Austin) | Lu, Jun (The University of Texas at Austin) | Jang, Sung Hyun (The University of Texas at Austin) | Weerasooriya, Upali P. (The University of Texas at Austin) | Pope, Gary A. (The University of Texas at Austin)
Abstract The ability to develop high performance, low cost chemical formulations for chemical EOR involves the use of not only highly efficient surfactants tailored to specific crude oil and reservoir conditions, but also the technical know-how for combining the surfactants and other chemicals to create the best formulation as a complete package. Scientific understanding of how the molecular structures of surfactants and co-solvents affect microemulsion properties greatly speeds up the process of arriving at optimal formulations for enhanced recovery of a specific crude oil in a specific oil reservoir. With the main emphasis on reducing the chemical cost of the formulations, a new slate of novel chemicals, both surfactants and co-solvents, has been developed and shown to have superior performance. We have synthesized and tested new classes of surfactants with different hydrophobe sizes and structures varying from large-medium-short-ultrashort in order to meet the needs of a variety of crude oil requirements. We have also developed ultra-short hydrophobe surfactants (with 2-ethylhexanol hydrophobe) possessing dual surfactant / co-solvent properties. Such duality in performance helps, in some cases, to minimize or altogether offset the use of co-solvents while maintaining low microemulsion viscosities, faster equilibration, and other desirable behavior. Thus, 2-ethylhexanol-propoxy-sulfate was developed as a surfactant that also encompasses co-solvent properties. The novel Gemini surfactants have also been incorporated in formulations and core flood experiments with excellent results. The new co-solvents offer advantages such as short equilibration time for the microemulsion formation and lower microemulsion viscosity. Systematic studies using these new surfactants and co-solvents clearly show that we now have the capability of developing highly robust formulations to meet the needs of a variety of reservoirs, resulting in high oil recoveries with low surfactant retention, which is the key to lowering the chemical costs and improving the economics of chemical enhanced oil recovery.
- North America > United States > Oklahoma (0.30)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.28)
- Materials > Chemicals > Specialty Chemicals (1.00)
- Materials > Chemicals > Commodity Chemicals > Petrochemicals (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Asia > India > Rajasthan > Rajasthan Basin > Barmer Basin > Rajasthan Block > Mangala Field > Fatehgarh Formation (0.99)
- Asia > India > Rajasthan > Rajasthan Basin > Barmer Basin > Rajasthan Block > Mangala Field > Barmer Hill Formation (0.99)
- Asia > India > Rajasthan > Rajasthan Basin > Barmer Basin > Block RJ/ON-90/1 > Mangala Field > Fatehgarh Formation (0.99)
- Asia > India > Rajasthan > Rajasthan Basin > Barmer Basin > Block RJ/ON-90/1 > Mangala Field > Barmer Hill Formation (0.99)