Laboratory Studies on Oil Recovery with Aqueous Dispersions of Oil-Soluble Sulfonates (1974)

This paper was prepared for the Improved Oil Recovery Symposium of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Tulsa, Okla., April 22–24, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made. provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines. Abstract Exploratory work on preparation of dispersions of oil-soluble sulfonates in oil field brines of 2–4 percent salt led to the formulation of stable birefringent ternary systems. Under these conditions these dispersions will recover oil up to temperatures of 175 degrees F. The limits of NaCl and Ca++ concentrations in which some of these systems were stable has been defined, and the various forms produced have been correlated with effectiveness in oil recovery. Oil recovery experiments in 5-, 10-, and 20-foot sand packs show promising results. The mobility behavior of these systems has some interesting implications and the possibility of interactions between surfactant dispersions and polymers is evidenced. Introduction The approach to tertiary recovery of petroleum through application of oil-soluble petroleum through application of oil-soluble sulfonates requires a mode of mobilizing the agent. A number of approaches have been described in the literature. Even moderate salinity and elevated temperatures put more and more constraints on these systems that are expected to function effectively and remain stable. The experiments described by Healy and Reed for certain types of formulations emphasize other types of problems. The preparation of stable dispersions of oil-soluble sulfonates with a second anionic surfactant is described in a Shell patent. Experimental work showed this approach to have promise in certain respects, but also certain promise in certain respects, but also certain disadvantages. Seeking to avoid some of the problems led to a ternary system in which the problems led to a ternary system in which the third component is a hydroxy ether such as hexyl carbitol. Although additional complexity and cost is approached with reluctance, this combination was found to have some interesting properties. This paper describes experimental work in formulating paper describes experimental work in formulating this agent in various salinities and temperatures and exploratory oil recovery measurements. More definitive recovery tests were made with various lengths of porous media; these tests include mobility data and concentration profiles. This mixture can be formulated in a variety of physical forms and with a variety of properties, some desirable, some undesirable. We were primarily interested in a system which would primarily interested in a system which would develop an oil bank and maintain reasonable mobility. We wanted as far as possible to have a system which would be effective in representative oil field brines.