Aqueous Surfactant Systems For Oil Recovery
Authors: Hill H.J. , Reisberg J. , Stegemeier G.L. 
Published: December 2007

A slug containing 2 percent sulfonate, polymer for mobility control, and sodium tripolyphosphate for multivalent ion control - the entire system driven by a polymer solution - recovered 85 percent of the residual oil from a waterflooded Berea core. Because the surfactant adsorption is low, it appears that the process may be economically feasible for tertiary recovery of oil.

Introduction

In 1927, Uren and Fahmy concluded that an inverse relationship exists between oil-water interfacial tension and the percentage of oil recovered by waterflooding. In that same year a patent was issued to Atkinson that proposed the patent was issued to Atkinson that proposed the use of aqueous solutions of soap or other materials to decrease the "surface tension" between oil and the flooding medium and thereby increase the recovery of oil. During the next 25 years a major part of the reported research on the use of surfactants to recover oil was carried out by a group at Pennsylvania State U. This group recognized that interfacial tension. wetting conditions (contact angle), and surfactant adsorption were important factors. Preston and Calhoun discussed chromatographic transport of surfactants through porous rocks. Ojeda et al., and Paez et al., correlated residual oil saturation in Paez et al., correlated residual oil saturation in cores after a surfactant flood with sigma/Delta p and with a pore geometry parameter (k phi)1/2. These correlations pore geometry parameter (k phi)1/2. These correlations indicated that residual oil saturation could go to zero at values of sigma/Delta p approaching zero. Excluding patent literature, published research results for the last two decades have discussed the screening of surfactants for oil recovery "efficiency", changing wettability to improve oil recovery, adsorption and chromatographic transport of surfactants, and the role of major factors known to affect oil recovery by aqueous surfactant flooding. A comprehensive study directed primarily toward the influence of interfacial tension was reported by Reisberg and Doscher in 1956. Using a system that combined an aqueous alkali with a surfactant, they measured interfacial tensions less than 0.01 dynes/cm. With this same chemical system they recovered 100 percent of the oil from sand packs and more than 90 percent from Torpedo sandstone cores. Wagner and Leach showed that oil recovery increases when interfacial tension is reduced to about 0.07 dynes/cm and that further small decreases in interfacial tension result in large increases in oil recovery. In 1968, Taber presented theoretical and experimental results that presented theoretical and experimental results that further clarify the relation between residual oil saturation and Delta p/L sigma. He recognized that this correlation group should include the contact angle, but because of difficulties in systematically varying or indeed in even measuring the contact angle inside rocks, he examined the effects of the other parameters only. For Berea cores Taber found that a significant quantity of discontinuous oil (residual) was displaced when the ratio of Delta p/L sigma reached a value of about 5 (psi/ft)/(dynes/cm). He designated this as the critical value of the ratio and noted that further increases in the value of this ratio invariably produce more residual oil. He concluded that nearly 100 percent of the residual oil can be displaced if very high values of Delta p/L sigma, can be obtained. Gogarty and Tosch have recently discussed the principles of micellar surfactant systems. principles of micellar surfactant systems.

JPT

P. 186