Open AccessCHARACTERIZATION OF PHASE AND EMULSION BEHAVIOR, SURFACTANT RETENTION, AND OIL RECOVERY FOR NOVEL ALCOHOL ETHOXYCARBOXYLATE SURFACTANTS
Author(s) -
Lebone T Moeti,
Ramanathan Sampath
Publication year - 2001
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/833446
Subject(s) - pulmonary surfactant , microemulsion , emulsion , salinity , volume (thermodynamics) , phase (matter) , mixing (physics) , dodecane , chemical engineering , enhanced oil recovery , volume fraction , materials science , chromatography , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , thermodynamics , geology , composite material , organic chemistry , oceanography , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
This final technical report describes work performed under DOE Grant No. DE-FG26-97FT97278 during the period October 01, 1997 to August 31, 2001 which covers the total performance period of the project. During this period, detailed information on optimal salinity, temperature, emulsion morphologies, effectiveness for surfactant retention and oil recovery was obtained for an Alcohol Ethoxycarboxylate (AEC) surfactant to evaluate its performance in flooding processes. Tests were conducted on several AEC surfactants and NEODOX (23-4) was identified as the most suitable hybrid surfactant that yielded the best proportion in volume for top, middle, and bottom phases when mixed with oil and water. Following the selection of this surfactant, temperature and salinity scans were performed to identify the optimal salinity and temperature, and the temperature and salinity intervals in which all three phases coexisted. NEODOX 23-4 formed three phases between 4 and 52.5 C. It formed an aqueous rich microemulsion phase at high temperatures and an oleic rich microemulsion phase at low temperatures--a characteristic of the ionic part of the surfactant. The morphology measurement system was set-up successfully at CAU. The best oil/water/surfactant system defined by the above phase work was then studied for emulsion morphologies. Electrical conductivities were measured for middle and bottom phases of the NEODOX 23-4/dodecane/10mM water system and by mixing measured volumes of the middle phase into a fixed volume of the bottom phase and vice versa at room temperature. Electrical conductivity of the mixture decreased as the fraction of volume of the middle phase was increased and vice versa. Also inversion phenomena was observed. These experiments were then repeated for bottom/middle (B/M) and middle/bottom (M/B) conjugate pair phases at 10, 15, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 C. Electrical conductivity measurements were then compared with the predictions of the conductivity model developed in this project. The M/B and B/M morphologies and their inversion hysteresis lines conformed to the previously postulated dispersion morphology diagram; that is, within experimental uncertainties, the two emulsion inversion lines in phase volume-temperature space met at a critical point that coincided with the upper critical end point for the phases. Coreflooding measurements were performed by our industrial partner in this project, Surtek, Golden, CO which showed poor hydrocarbon recovery (38.1%) for NEODOX 23-4. It was also found that NEODOX 23-4 surfactant adsorbed too much to the rock (97.1% surfactant loss to the core), a characteristic of the non-ionic part of the surfactant