Implementation of a high-performance surfactant for enhanced oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs

Abstract Over half of the original oil in a location is retained in a reservoir after the implementation of primary and secondary production schemes. The implementation of chemical stimulation such as surfactant flooding as tertiary-stage recovery methods as part of an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) scheme is inevitable. An important element of oil recovery mechanisms based on surfactant flooding is the lowering of the interfacial tension between the aqueous and oil phases. The implementation of surfactant extracted from Zyziphus spina christi leaves for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in carbonate reservoirs has not yet been addressed in the literature. This research investigates the implementation of natural surfactant in aqueous solutions for EOR applications and reservoir stimulation. Core displacement experiments were implemented to assess the effectiveness of the introduced surfactant as an enhanced oil recovery agent in carbonate reservoirs. These tests were performed on carbonate cores saturated with brine and oil that were injected with the extracted surfactant in six different concentrations. The results show that with the increase of the introduced surfactant concentration, the ultimate recovery increases; this trend is attributed to the lowering of the interfacial tension between the oil and aqueous phases and to the increase in the viscosity of the aqueous phase. Results from this research can aid in the appropriate design of the chemical stimulation process like the use of surfactant flooding in carbonate reservoirs.

[1]  Achinta Bera,et al.  Characterization of Oil-Water Emulsion and Its Use in Enhanced Oil Recovery , 2010 .

[2]  E. I. Sandvik,et al.  Tertiary Surfactant Flooding: Petroleum Sulfonate Composition-Efficacy Studies , 1973 .

[3]  G. Pope,et al.  Identification and Evaluation of High-Performance EOR Surfactants , 2009 .

[4]  S. Stoyanov,et al.  Surface rheology of saponin adsorption layers. , 2011, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[5]  Don M. Everett,et al.  The Succesful Evolution of Anton Irish Conformance Efforts , 2006 .

[6]  S. Ayatollahi,et al.  Experimental Study of Wettability Alteration of Limestone Rock from Oil Wet to Water Wet by Applying Various Surfactants , 2012 .

[7]  Julian Richard Barnes,et al.  Surfactant Systems for EOR in High-Temperature, High-Salinity Environments , 2012 .

[8]  Do Hoon Kim,et al.  Low-Cost, High-Performance Chemicals for Enhanced Oil Recovery , 2010 .

[9]  M. Ahmadi,et al.  Experimental study on adsorption of a new surfactant onto carbonate reservoir samples—application to EOR , 2013 .

[10]  K. Webb,et al.  A Laboratory Study Investigating Methods for Improving Oil Recovery in Carbonates , 2005 .

[11]  Jenn-Tai Liang,et al.  Mechanistic study of wettability alteration using surfactants with applications in naturally fractured reservoirs. , 2008, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[12]  J. Buckley.  Effective wettability of minerals exposed to crude oil , 2001 .

[13]  H. L. Graham,et al.  Borregos Field Surfactant Pilot Test , 1975 .

[14]  Eduardo Manrique,et al.  EOR Field Experiences in Carbonate Reservoirs in the United States , 2007 .

[15]  M. Ahmadi,et al.  Experimental investigation of adsorption of a new nonionic surfactant on carbonate minerals , 2013 .

[16]  G. Mazza,et al.  Saponins: Properties, Applications and Processing , 2007, Critical reviews in food science and nutrition.

[17]  Hossein Kazemi,et al.  Experimental and Numerical Simulation Of Surfactant-Assisted Oil Recovery In Tight Fractured Carbonate Reservoir Cores , 2012 .

[18]  M. Ahmadi,et al.  Nonionic Surfactant for Enhanced Oil Recovery from Carbonates: Adsorption Kinetics and Equilibrium , 2012 .

[19]  R. S. Schechter,et al.  Improved Oil Recovery by Surfactant and Polymer Flooding , 1977 .

[20]  M. Akbulut,et al.  Nanoscale Dynamics of Heavy Oil Recovery Using Surfactant Floods , 2012 .

[21]  Do Hoon Kim,et al.  Development of High-Performance Surfactants for Difficult Oils , 2008 .

[22]  W. Goddard,et al.  A Study of Branched Alcohol Propoxylate Sulfate Surfactants for Improved Oil Recovery , 2005 .

[23]  Norman R. Morrow,et al.  Improved Oil Recovery from Carbonate Reservoirs by Chemical Stimulation , 2005 .

[24]  Kamy Sepehrnoori,et al.  Chemical Flooding of Fractured Carbonates Using Wettability Modifiers , 2008 .

[25]  D. E. Kenyon,et al.  Laboratory Monitoring of Surfactant Imbibition With Computerized Tomography , 2001 .

[26]  Andrew G. Shepherd,et al.  Controlled Hydrophobe Branching To Match Surfactant To Crude Composition For Chemical EOR , 2012 .

[27]  P. Zitha,et al.  CT Scan Study of Immiscible Foam Flow in Porous Media for Enhancing Oil Recovery , 2013 .

[28]  P. Zitha,et al.  Investigation of Immiscible and Miscible Foam for Enhancing Oil Recovery , 2010 .

[29]  M. Ahmadi,et al.  Adsorption of Novel Nonionic Surfactant and Particles Mixture in Carbonates: Enhanced Oil Recovery Implication , 2012 .

[30]  S. Shadizadeh,et al.  A New Type of Surfactant for Enhanced Oil Recovery , 2012 .

[31]  J. Maerker,et al.  Surfactant flood process design for Loudon , 1992 .

[32]  Mohammad Jamialahmadi,et al.  Applicability Test of New Surfactant Produced from Zizyphus Spina-Christi Leaves for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Carbonate Reservoirs , 2012 .

[33]  Madhav M. Kulkarni,et al.  Experimental investigation of miscible and immiscible water-alternating-gas (WAG) process performance , 2005 .

[34]  I. Johansson,et al.  Surfactants from renewable resources , 2010 .

[35]  K. Mohanty,et al.  Physicochemical interactions during surfactant flooding of fractured carbonate reservoirs , 2004 .

[36]  W. Goddard,et al.  Synergistic effect of alkyl polyglycoside and sorbitan mixtures on lowering interfacial tension and enhancing oil recovery , 2004 .

[37]  S. Stipp,et al.  Pore scale observation of low salinity effects on outcrop and oil reservoir sandstone , 2011 .

[38]  W. J. Leas,et al.  Properties of Linear Waterfloods , 1953 .

[39]  P. Zitha,et al.  Immiscible Foam for Enhancing Oil Recovery: Bulk and Porous Media Experiments , 2011 .

[40]  Beatrice Gralton,et al.  Washington DC - USA , 2008 .

[41]  J. R. Bragg,et al.  Second Ripley Surfactant Flood Pilot Test , 1990 .

[42]  N. Morrow.  Wettability and Its Effect on Oil Recovery , 1990 .

[43]  K. Ojha,et al.  Mechanistic Study of Wettability Alteration of Quartz Surface Induced by Nonionic Surfactants and Interaction between Crude Oil and Quartz in the Presence of Sodium Chloride Salt , 2012 .

[44]  H. L. Graham,et al.  Borregos surfactant pilot test , 1972 .

[45]  Nina M. Rach.  Industry stable in North America , 2006 .

[46]  J. Buckley,et al.  Some mechanisms of crude oil/brine/solid interactions , 1998 .