Surfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications (eBook)

Contents 5
About the Authors 10
1 Surfactants 11
1.1 What Are the Surfactants? 11
1.1.1 Classification of Surfactants 12
1.1.2 Anionic Surfactants 12
1.1.3 Cationic Surfactants 13
1.1.4 Non-ionic Surfactants 14
1.1.5 Amphoteric Surfactants 14
1.2 Surfactants in Solution 15
1.3 History of Surfactants 16
1.4 Applications of Surfactants in Industry 17
1.4.1 Application in Detergents Formulations 18
1.4.2 In the Construction Industry 18
1.4.3 Application in Emulsions Formation 19
1.4.4 Application in Shampoo Formulations 19
1.4.5 In Ferrofluids 19
1.4.6 In Herbicide 19
1.4.7 Application in Cleansing Agents 19
1.4.8 Application in Firefighting 20
1.4.9 In the Paper Industry 20
1.4.10 In Leather Industry 20
1.4.11 Food Processing and Production 20
1.4.12 Metal Processing 20
1.4.13 Downstream Petroleum Industry 21
Bibliography 21
2 Surfactant in Petroleum Industry 22
2.1 Surfactants Application in the Petroleum Industry 22
2.1.1 Drilling Mud 22
2.1.2 Asphaltic Emulsions 23
2.1.3 Fluidization of Bitumen 23
2.1.4 Corrosion Inhibition 23
2.1.5 Oil Spill Clean-Up 23
2.1.6 Oil/Water Separation and Crude Oil Dehydration 24
2.1.7 Enhanced Oil Recovery 24
2.2 Surfactants in EOR Applications 25
2.3 Factors and Parameters Affecting Chemical EOR 26
2.3.1 Oil Trap Mechanism in Porous Media 26
2.3.2 Interfacial Tension (IFT) 27
2.3.3 Capillary Number (Nc) 28
2.3.4 Wettability 30
2.3.5 Capillary Pressure 31
2.3.6 Permeability 32
2.4 EOR Mechanism: Important Terms 32
2.5 Role of Surfactants in Recovering Trapped Oil 34
2.5.1 Trapped Oil Mobilization and Recovery 35
2.5.2 Surfactants Screening and Performance Evaluation 36
2.5.3 Thermal Stability and Compatibility with Reservoir Fluids 36
2.5.4 Adsorption of Surfactants 38
2.5.5 Ion Exchange 39
2.5.6 Ion Pairing 39
2.5.7 Acid-Based Interactions 39
2.5.8 Adsorption by the Polarization of ? Electrons 40
2.5.9 Adsorption by Dispersion Forces 41
2.5.10 Hydrogen Bonding 41
2.5.11 Adsorption Isotherm 41
2.5.12 IFT Test with Spinning Drop Tensiometer 44
2.5.13 Core Flood Tests 45
2.5.14 Static and Dynamic Adsorption 46
Bibliography 47
3 Foams in EOR 50
3.1 CO2-EOR 50
3.1.1 Challenges of CO2-EOR 52
3.1.2 Solutions to Overcome CO2 Problems 53
3.1.3 Foam for CO2 Mobility Control 54
3.2 Foam 54
3.2.1 Quality 57
3.2.2 Texture 58
3.2.3 Foam Generation in Porous Media 58
3.2.4 Snap off 59
3.2.5 Lamella Division 59
3.2.6 Leave-Behind 60
3.2.7 Foam in Porous Media 61
3.2.8 Effect of Foam on Gas and Liquid Mobility 62
3.3 Foam Stability 63
3.3.1 Film Drainage 63
3.3.2 Gas Diffusion 63
3.3.3 Oil Effect 64
3.3.4 Temperature Effect 65
3.3.5 Role of Surfactant in Foam Generation and Stability 65
3.4 Evaluation of Surfactants 65
3.4.1 Solubility and Thermal Stability 66
3.4.2 IFT Measurements (Pendant Drop Method) 67
3.4.3 Foam Stability Test 67
3.4.4 Mobility Control Experiments 67
3.4.5 Coreflood Test for Maximum Oil Recovery 68
Bibliography 70
4 Surfactants as Emulsification Agents for IFT Reduction in EOR Applications 73
4.1 Interfacial Tension 73
4.2 Interfacial Tension and Emulsion 74
4.3 Types of Emulsions 74
4.3.1 Macro Emulsion 75
4.3.2 Microemulsions 75
4.4 Classification of Microemulsions 75
4.5 Phase Behavior of Surfactants, Oil, and Brine 76
4.6 IFT and the Solubilization Ratio of Oil and Brine 77
4.7 Effect of Surfactant Structure on IFT Behavior 81
4.7.1 Co-surfactants and Co-solvents 82
4.8 Effect of Salinity and Temperature on IFT Behavior 83
4.9 Structure-Performance Relationship of Surfactants 84
4.9.1 Head Groups 84
4.9.2 Tail Groups 85
4.9.3 Linking Groups in Surfactants 85
4.9.4 Hydrophile-Lipophile Balance (HLB) 86
4.9.5 The R-ratio 87
4.9.6 The Packing Factor 88
4.10 Surfactant Flooding Processes for Chemical EOR 90
4.11 Optimum Microemulsion Type in Surfactant Flooding 90
Bibliography 92
5 CO2 Philic Surfactants, Switchable Amine-Based Surfactants and Wettability Alteration for EOR Applications 96
5.1 Challenges Associated with EOR Foams and Their Stability 96
5.2 What Are CO2 Philic Surfactants? 97
5.3 CO2-Philic Surfactants for Foam 97
5.4 CO2 Philic Surfactants as CO2 Viscofiers 98
5.5 Characteristic Requirements for CO2-Philic Surfactants for CO2-Philicity 98
5.5.1 Branches 99
5.5.2 Number of Tails 99
5.5.3 Tail Length and Tip 99
5.5.4 PO Groups, Methyl Groups, and Methylene Groups 100
5.5.5 Carbonyl Groups 100
5.5.6 Molecular Weight 100
5.6 CO2 Philic Surfactants as Possible CO2 Gas Mobility Control Agents 101
5.7 Amine-Based Switchable Surfactants in EOR Applications 102
5.7.1 Ethoxylated Nonionic to Cationic Switchable Amine Surfactants 102
5.8 Wettability Alteration by Surfactants 103
5.8.1 Wettability Alteration 104
Bibliography 107
6 Modeling of Surfactant Flooding in the Porous Medium 110
6.1 Introduction 110
6.2 Development of Capillary Pressure Model 112
6.3 Development of Relative Permeability Model 114
6.4 Reservoir Simulation 116
6.5 Modeling the Effects of Microemulsion 119
Bibliography 120
7 Challenges of Chemical EOR 123
7.1 Surfactant-Polymer and Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer EOR 124
7.1.1 Polymers 124
7.1.2 Alkalis 125
7.1.3 Stability of Chemicals 126
7.1.4 Salinity Tolerance 126
7.1.5 Adsorption Issues 127
7.1.6 Microemulsion and Adequate Type of Microemulsion 128
7.1.7 Undesired Chemical Reactions, Scale, and Corrosion 128
7.1.8 Produced Emulsions, Environmental Implications and Issues 129
7.2 Foam Assisted EOR 130
7.2.1 Foam EOR Issues 130
7.2.2 Surfactant Adsorption on the Rock 130
7.2.3 Foam Stability 131
7.2.4 Foam Quality and Apparent Viscosity 131
7.3 Simulation and Modeling 132
Bibliography 133