The phase behavior and solubilization ability of nonionic surfactant-distillate fraction of crude oil microemulsion system

2020 ◽  
Vol 603 ◽  
pp. 125181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutong Liu ◽  
Shuang Chen ◽  
Lin Sheng ◽  
Mian Wang ◽  
Hui’e Liu
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Phase Behavior ◽  
Nonionic Surfactant ◽  
Microemulsion System ◽  
Distillate Fraction ◽  
Solubilization Ability

A Temperature Operating Window Concept for Application of Nonionic Surfactants for EOR in Unconventional Shale Reservoirs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Wayan Rakananda Saputra ◽  
David S. Schechter
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Nonionic Surfactant ◽  
Cloud Point ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Nonionic Surfactants ◽  
Spontaneous Imbibition ◽  
Reservoir Temperature ◽  
Rock System ◽  
Temperature Operating ◽  
Operating Window

Abstract Surfactant performance is a function of its hydrophobic tail, and hydrophilic head in combination with crude oil composition, brine salinity, rock composition, and reservoir temperature. Specifically, for nonionic surfactants, temperature is a dominant variable due to the nature of the ethylene oxide (EO) groups in the hydrophilic head known as the cloud point temperature. This study aims to highlight the existence of temperature operating window for nonionic surfactants to optimize oil recovery during EOR applications in unconventional reservoirs. Two nonylphenol (NP) ethoxylated nonionic surfactants with different EO head groups were investigated in this study. A medium and light grade crude oil were utilized for this study. Core plugs from a carbonate-rich outcrop and a quartz-rich outcrop were used for imbibition experiments. Interfacial tension and contact angle measurements were performed to investigate the effect of temperature on the surfactant interaction in an oil/brine and oil/brine/rock system respectively. Finally, a series of spontaneous imbibition experiments was performed on three temperatures selected based on the cloud point of each surfactant in order to construct a temperature operating window for each surfactant. Both nonionic surfactants were observed to improve oil recovery from the two oil-wet oil/rock system tested in this study. The improvement was observed on both final recovery and rate of spontaneous imbibition. However, it was observed that each nonionic surfactant has its optimum temperature operating window relative to the cloud point of that surfactant. For both nonionic surfactants tested in this study, this window begins from the cloud point of the surfactant up to 25°F above the cloud point. Below this operating window, the surfactant showed subpar performance in increasing oil recovery. This behavior is caused by the thermodynamic equilibrium of the surfactant at this temperature which drives the molecule to be more soluble in the aqueous-phase as opposed to partitioning at the interface. Above the operating window, surfactant performance was also inferior. Although for this condition, the behavior is caused by the preference of the surfactant molecule to be in the oleic-phase rather than the aqueous-phase. One important conclusion is the surfactant achieved its optimum performance when it positions itself on the oil/water interface, and this configuration is achieved when the temperature of the system is in the operating window mentioned above. Additionally, it was also observed that the 25°F operating window varies based on the characteristic of the crude oil. A surfactant study is generally performed on a single basin, with a single crude oil on a single reservoir temperature or even on a proxy model at room temperature. This study aims to highlight the importance of applying the correct reservoir temperature when investigating nonionic surfactant behavior. Furthermore, this study aims to introduce a temperature operating window concept for nonionic surfactants. This work demonstrates that there is not a "one size fits all" surfactant design.

Surfactant Retention in Berea Sandstone- Effects of Phase Behavior and Temperature

1982 ◽  
Vol 22 (06) ◽  
pp. 962-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Novosad
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Phase Behavior ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Liquid Interface ◽  
Divalent Ions ◽  
Surfactant Precipitation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Solid Liquid Interface ◽  
Solid Liquid

Novosad, J., SPE, Petroleum Recovery Inst. Abstract Experimental procedures designed to differentiate between surfactant retained in porous media because of adsorption and surfactant retained because Of unfavorable phase behavior are developed and tested with three types of surfactants. Several series of experiments with systematic changes in one variable such as surfactant/cosurfactant ratio, slug size, or temperature are performed, and overall surfactant retention then is interpreted in terms of adsorption and losses caused by unfavorable phase behavior. Introduction Adsorption of surfactants considered for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications has been studied extensively in the last few years since it has been shown that it is possible to develop surfactant systems that displace oil from porous media almost completely when used in large quantities. Effective oil recovery by surfactants is not a question of principle but rather a question of economics. Since surfactants are more expensive than crude oil, development of a practical EOR technology depends on how much surfactant can be sacrificed economically while recovering additional crude oil from a reservoir.It was recognized earlier that adsorption may be only one of a number of factors that contribute to total surfactant retention. Other mechanisms may include surfactant entrapment in an immobile oil phase surfactant precipitation by divalent ions, surfactant precipitation caused by a separation of the cosurfactant from the surfactant, and surfactant precipitation resulting from chromatographic separation of different surfactant specks. The principal objective of this work is to evaluate the experimental techniques that can be used for measuring surfactant adsorption and to study experimentally two mechanisms responsible for surfactant retention. Specifically, we try to differentiate between the adsorption of surfactants at the solid/liquid interface and the retention of the surfactants because of trapping in the immobile hydrocarbon phase that remains within the core following a surfactant flood. Measurement of Adsorption at the Solid/Liquid Interface Previous adsorption measurements of surfactants considered for EOR produced adsorption isotherms of unusual shapes and unexpected features. Primarily, an adsorption maximum was observed when total surfactant retention was plotted against the concentration of injected surfactant. Numerous explanations have been offered for these peaks, such as a formation of mixed micelles, the effects of structure-forming and structurebreaking cations, and the precipitation and consequent redissolution of divalent ions. It is difficult to assess which of these effects is responsible for the peaks in a particular situation and their relative importance. However, in view of the number of physicochemical processes taking place simultaneously and the large number of components present in most systems, it seems that we should not expect smooth monotonically increasing isotherms patterned after adsorption isothemes obtained with one pure component and a solvent. Also, it should be realized that most experimental procedures do not yield an amount of surfactant adsorbed but rather a measure of the surface excess.An adsorption isotherm, expressed in terms of the surface excess as a function of an equilibrium surfactant concentration, by definition must contain a maximum if the data are measured over a sufficiently wide range of concentrations. SPEJ P. 962^

scholarly journals Investigation on Gas Hydrates Formation and Dissociation in Multiphase Gas Dominant Transmission Pipelines

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 5052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayani Jai Krishna Sahith ◽  
Srinivasa Rao Pedapati ◽  
Bhajan Lal
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Phase Behavior ◽  
Gas Hydrates ◽  
Gas Hydrate ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Water System ◽  
Hydrate Formation ◽  
Multiphase System ◽  
Gas Hydrate Formation ◽  
Water Cut

In this work, a gas hydrate formation and dissociation study was performed on two multiphase pipeline systems containing gasoline, CO2, water, and crude oil, CO2, water, in the pressure range of 2.5–3.5 MPa with fixed water cut as 15% using gas hydrate rocking cell equipment. The system has 10, 15 and 20 wt.% concentrations of gasoline and crude oil, respectively. From the obtained hydrate-liquid-vapor-equilibrium (HLVE) data, the phase diagrams for the system are constructed and analyzed to represent the phase behavior in the multiphase pipelines. Similarly, induction time and rate of gas hydrate formation studies were performed for gasoline, CO2, and water, and crude oil, CO2, water system. From the evaluation of phase behavior based on the HLVE curve, the multiphase system with gasoline exhibits an inhibition in gas hydrates formation, as the HLVE curve shifts towards the lower temperature and higher-pressure region. The multiphase system containing the crude oil system shows a promotion of gas hydrates formation, as the HLVE curve shifted towards the higher temperature and lower pressure. Similarly, the kinetics of hydrate formation of gas hydrates in the gasoline system is slow. At the same time, crude oil has a rapid gas hydrate formation rate.

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