Structures Of Aqueous Solutions Of Petroleum Sulfonates
Authors: Benton William J. , Fort Tomlinson , Miller Clarence A. 
Published: December 2007

Aqueous solutions of two synthetic petroleum sulfonates, nonyl and dodecyl orthoxylene sulfonates with tertiary amyl alcohol as cosurfactant, were studied with the polarizing microscope. Surfactant concentrations of 2–10%, the approximate range being considered for injection in surfactant processes, were used, while salinities in each system ranged from well below to well above the optimum salinity for a particular mixture of refined oils. The solutions were also studied as a function of temperature and time.

Both these surfactants showed the same pattern of structure variation with salinity. At low salinities there was a dispersion of liquid crystalline particles in brine. At high salinities a single liquid crystal-line phase was present. over a narrow range of intermediate salinities a mixture of these two structures was seen. The generality of this behavior was confirmed by observation of solutions of two conventional petroleum sulfonates, which also exhibited a transition petroleum sulfonates, which also exhibited a transition between structures over a narrow salinity range.

The mean salinity of the transition region was found to increase as a surfactant's optimum salinity increases for a given oil. Since optimum salinity is associated with the lowest interfacial tensions, this result indicates that structure of an injected surfactant solution is related to its ability to produce low tensions on contacting oil. Solution viscosity should also be affected by the structural changes.

Introduction

A major portion of current research on enhanced oil recovery deals with chemical flooding processes employing surfactants. In many proposed processes the surfactant is injected as a "slug" which is an aqueous saline solution containing the surfactant and often an alcohol cosurfactant as well. Surfactant concentration in the slug is typically in the range of 2–10% by weight.

Both the slug's flow behavior within the reservoir and its interaction with trapped oil globules, especially its ability to produce ultralow interfacial tensions and mobilize such globules, are very important for process performance. To obtain information which will help in understanding and predicting such aspects of slug behavior, we have used the polarizing microscope to study the macroscopic structure of aqueous saline solutions of some petroleum sulfonate surfactants. As discussed below, we have found that structure variation with composition, especially with salinity, follows a general pattern in these systems. in particular, there exists a narrow salinity range for each surfactant-cosurfactant mixture where a change occurs from one type of structure to another. The salinity where this transformation in structure occurs increases as the optimum salinity of the surfactant-cosurfactant mixture increases for a given oil. Since the lowest interfacial tensions occur at optimum salinity, these results suggest that the structure of the injected surfactant slug is related to its ability to produce low tensions upon contact with oil.

EXPERIMENTAL Materials

The synthetic petroleum sulfonates used were mono-ethanolamine alkyl orthoxylene sulfonates, which were supplied by Exxon Chemical Company. In PDM-337, which contains 84% active sulfonates, the alkyl chain is predominantly dodecyl. In PDM-484, which is 85% predominantly dodecyl. In PDM-484, which is 85% active, the alkyl chain is mainly nonyl. Conventional petroleum sulfonates used were TRS 10–410, which was petroleum sulfonates used were TRS 10–410, which was supplied by Witco Chemical Corporation, and Mahogany AA, which was supplied by Amoco Production Company. ate former contains 61.5% active sulfonates and has an equivalent weight of 424, while the latter contains about 60% active sulfonates and has an equivalent weight of 430.

Reagent grade isopropanol, isobutanol, and tertiary amyl alcohol were used as cosurfactants. The surfactant-cosurfactant mixtures were added to brines of the appropriate compositions made from distilled water and reagent grade NaCl.