Surfactant flooding characteristics of dodecyl alkyl sulfate for enhanced oil recovery

Surfactant flooding characteristics of dodecyl alkyl sulfate for enhanced oil recovery

Surfactant-enhanced oil recovery is a type of enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a method to produce residualoil by injecting surfactant solution into the reservoir. The application of surfactant EOR requiresknowledge of the phase behavior for more efficient production of residual oil. In this study, the relationship between dodecyl alkyl sulfate and some specific crude oils wasexamined through phase behavior test. It was found that the branched surfactant was more effectivethan the linear surfactant. The system was stable at salinities <3 wt%. On adding a small amount of cosurfactant,the emulsion activity was increased. The gravity drainage flooding test (GDFT) was performed to determine the potential of dodecylalkyl sulfate to produce residual oil in porous media. It was found that the solution could be floodedat temperatures of 60 8C or higher. In the core flooding test, injecting one pore volume of 2 wt%surfactant solution with 3 wt% salinity produced 26.6% more oil after water flood. With the additionof only 0.01 wt% co-surfactant, oil production increased by 1.6%. Contrary to the phase behaviortest, the linear surfactant produced 1.3% more oil than the branched surfactant in the core floodingtest.

Surfactant-enhanced oil recovery is a type of enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a method to produce residualoil by injecting surfactant solution into the reservoir. The application of surfactant EOR requiresknowledge of the phase behavior for more efficient production of residual oil. In this study, the relationship between dodecyl alkyl sulfate and some specific crude oils wasexamined through phase behavior test. It was found that the branched surfactant was more effectivethan the linear surfactant. The system was stable at salinities <3 wt%. On adding a small amount of cosurfactant,the emulsion activity was increased. The gravity drainage flooding test (GDFT) was performed to determine the potential of dodecylalkyl sulfate to produce residual oil in porous media. It was found that the solution could be floodedat temperatures of 60 8C or higher. In the core flooding test, injecting one pore volume of 2 wt%surfactant solution with 3 wt% salinity produced 26.6% more oil after water flood. With the additionof only 0.01 wt% co-surfactant, oil production increased by 1.6%. Contrary to the phase behaviortest, the linear surfactant produced 1.3% more oil than the branched surfactant in the core floodingtest.