scholarly journals Interfacial Viscoelasticity in Crude Oil-Water Systems to Understand Incremental Oil Recovery

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Saad ◽  
Stefano Aime ◽  
Sharath C. Mahavadi ◽  
Yi-Qiao Song ◽  
Tadeusz W. Patzek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Incremental Oil Recovery

scholarly journals Manipulation of surface charges of oil droplets and carbonate rocks to improve oil recovery

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Hou ◽  
Ming Han ◽  
Jinxun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Zeta Potential ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Carbonate Rocks ◽  
Zwitterionic Surfactant ◽  
Surface Charges ◽  
Oil Droplets ◽  
Zeta Potentials ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Incremental Oil Recovery

AbstractThis work investigates the effect of the surface charges of oil droplets and carbonate rocks in brine and in surfactant solutions on oil production. The influences of the cations in brine and the surfactant types on the zeta-potentials of both oil droplets and carbonate rock particles are studied. It is found that the addition of anionic and cationic surfactants in brine result in both negative or positive zeta-potentials of rock particles and oil droplets respectively, while the zwitterionic surfactant induces a positive charge on rock particles and a negative charge on oil droplets. Micromodels with a CaCO3 nanocrystal layer coated on the flow channels were used in the oil displacement tests. The results show that when the oil-water interfacial tension (IFT) was at 10−1 mN/m, the injection of an anionic surfactant (SDS-R1) solution achieved 21.0% incremental oil recovery, higher than the 12.6% increment by the injection of a zwitterionic surfactant (SB-A2) solution. When the IFT was lowered to 10−3 mM/m, the injection of anionic/non-ionic surfactant SMAN-l1 solution with higher absolute zeta potential value (ζoil + ζrock) of 34 mV has achieved higher incremental oil recovery (39.4%) than the application of an anionic/cationic surfactant SMAC-l1 solution with a lower absolute zeta-potential value of 22 mV (30.6%). This indicates that the same charge of rocks and oil droplets improves the transportation of charged oil/water emulsion in the porous media. This work reveals that the surface charge in surfactant flooding plays an important role in addition to the oil/water interfacial tension reduction and the rock wettability alteration.

Investigating the dynamical stability of heavy crude oil-water systems using stirred tank

2019 ◽  
Vol 183 ◽  
pp. 106386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Cui ◽  
Qiyu Huang ◽  
Yang Lv ◽  
Xiaoyu Li ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Dynamical Stability ◽  
Stirred Tank ◽  
Heavy Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Heavy Crude

Emulsification of Crude Oil–Water Systems Using Biosurfactants

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Pekdemir ◽  
M. Çopur ◽  
K. Urum
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Oil Water

Microscale Interactions of Surfactant and Polymer Chemicals at Crude Oil/Water Interface for Enhanced Oil Recovery

SPE Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 1812-1826
Author(s):  
Subhash Ayirala ◽  
Zuoli Li ◽  
Rubia Mariath ◽  
Abdulkareem AlSofi ◽  
Zhenghe Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Interfacial Shear ◽  
Experimental Techniques ◽  
Water Interface ◽  
Oil Droplets ◽  
Interfacial Film ◽  
Chemical Eor ◽  
Oil Water

Summary The conventional experimental techniques used for performance evaluation of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) chemicals, such as polymers and surfactants, have been mostly limited to bulk viscosity, phase behavior/interfacial tension (IFT), and thermal stability measurements. Furthermore, fundamental studies exploring the different microscale interactions instigated by the EOR chemicals at the crude oil/water interface are scanty. The objective of this experimental study is to fill this existing knowledge gap and deliver an important understanding on underlying interfacial sciences and their potential implications for oil recovery in chemical EOR. Different microscale interactions of EOR chemicals, at crude oil/water interface, were studied by using a suite of experimental techniques, including an interfacial shear rheometer, Langmuir trough, and coalescence time measurement apparatus at both ambient (23°C) and elevated (70°C) temperatures. The reservoir crude oil and high-salinity injection water (57,000 ppm total dissolved solids) were used. Two chemicals, an amphoteric surfactant (at 1,000 ppm) and a sulfonated polyacrylamide polymer (at 500 and 700 ppm) were chosen because they are tolerant to high-salinity and high-temperature conditions. Interfacial viscous and elastic moduli (viscoelasticity), interface pressures, interface compression energies, and coalescence time between crude oil droplets are the major experimental data measured. Interfacial shear rheology results showed that surfactant favorably reduced the viscoelasticity of crude oil/water interface by decreasing the elastic and viscous modulus and increasing the phase angle to soften the interfacial film. Polymers in brine either alone or together with surfactant increased the viscous and elastic modulus and decreased the phase angle at the oil/water interface, thereby contributing to interfacial film rigidity. Interfacial pressures with polymers remained almost in the same order of magnitude as the high-salinity brine. In contrast, a significant reduction in interfacial pressures with surfactant was observed. The interface compression energies indicated the same trend and were reduced by approximately two orders of magnitude when surfactant was added to the brine. The surfactant was also able to retain similar interface behavior under compression even in the presence of polymers. The coalescence times between crude oil droplets were increased by polymers, while they were substantially decreased by the surfactant. These consistent findings from different experimental techniques demonstrated the adverse interactions of polymers at the crude oil/water interface to result in more rigid films, while confirming the high efficiency of the surfactant to soften the interfacial film, promote the oil droplets coalescence, and mobilize substantial amounts of residual oil in chemical EOR. This experimental study, for the first time, characterized the microscale interactions of surfactant-polymer chemicals at the crude oil/water interface. The applicability of several interfacial experimental techniques has been demonstrated to successfully understand underlying interfacial sciences and oil mobilization mechanisms in chemical EOR. These techniques and methods can provide potential means to efficiently screen and optimize EOR chemical formulations for better oil recovery in both sandstone and carbonate reservoirs.

Interfacial Rheological Properties of Crude Oil/Water Systems

1981 ◽  
pp. 307-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Neustadter ◽  
K. P. Whittingham ◽  
D. E. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Rheological Properties ◽  
Water Systems ◽  
Oil Water

Research on Treatment Technology as Resource of Polymer-Containing Oily Sludge

2014 ◽  
Vol 955-959 ◽  
pp. 2677-2682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian Qing Yin ◽  
Fei Fei Hu ◽  
Bo Jing ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Xi Zhou Shen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Oily Sludge ◽  
Processing Plant ◽  
Environment Protection ◽  
Treatment Technology ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Separating Agent

With the rapid implementation of polymer flooding in Bohai oil field, the produced liquid includes large amount of polymer-containing oily sludge reversed increases year by year. The polymer-containing oily sludge accumulates at the terminal processing plant, which not only obviously degrades the performance of sewage treatment instruments and blocks the oil/water separators, but also has a bad impact on environment. Using thermal chemical treatment technology with dynamical separating agent and optimizing separation conditions, the completed processing technology is obtained as follow: thermal chemical reaction, separation on standing, crude oil recovery and recycling of waste water. The recovery rate of crude oil from the samples treatment is over 94%. The obtained technology plays an important role in recycling of source, environment protection and technical support of increasing produced liquid.

Experimental Analysis of Alkali-Brine-Alcohol Phase Behavior with High Acid Number Crude Oil

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
D. Magzymov ◽  
T. Clemens ◽  
B. Schumi ◽  
R. T. Johns
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Phase Behavior ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Complex Mixture ◽  
Acid Number ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Water Interface ◽  
Total Acid ◽  
Oil Water

Summary A potential enhanced oil recovery technique is to inject alkali into a reservoir with a high-total acid number (TAN) crude to generate soap in situ and reduce interfacial tension (IFT) without the need to inject surfactant. The method may be cost-effective if the IFT can be lowered enough to cause significant mobilization of trapped oil while also avoiding formation of gels and viscous phases. This paper investigates the potential field application of injecting alkali to generate in-situ soap and favorable phase behavior for a high-TAN oil. Oil analyses show that the acids in the crude are a complex mixture of various polar acids and not mainly carboxylic acids. The results from phase behavior experiments do not undergo typical Winsor microemulsion behavior transition and subsequent ultralow IFTs below 1×10−3 mN/m that are conventionally observed. Instead, mixing of alkali and crude/brine generate water-in-oil macroemulsions that can be highly viscous. For a specific range of alkali concentrations, however, phases are not too viscous, and IFTs are reduced by several orders of magnitude. Incremental coreflood recoveries in this alkali range are excellent, even though not all trapped oil is mobilized. The viscous phase behavior at high alkali concentrations is explained by the formation of salt-crude complexes, created by acids from the crude oil under the alkali environment. These hydrophobic molecules tend to agglomerate at the oil-water interface. Together with polar components from the crude oil, they can organize into a highly viscous network and stabilize water droplets in the oleic phase. Oil-soluble alcohol was added to counter those two phenomena at large concentrations, but typical Winsor phase behavior was still not observed. A physicochemical model is proposed to explain the salt-crude complex formation at the oil-water interface that inhibits classical Winsor behavior.

Water-Based Nanofluid-Alternating-CO2 Injection for Enhancing Heavy Oil Recovery: Underlying Mechanisms that Influence its Efficiency

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changxiao Cao ◽  
Zhaojie Song ◽  
Shan Su ◽  
Zihan Tang ◽  
Zehui Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
Phase Inversion ◽  
Core Flooding ◽  
Heavy Component ◽  
Water Emulsion ◽  
Heavy Oil Reservoirs ◽  
Oil Water ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract The efficiency of CO2 water-alternating-gas (WAG) flooding is highly limited in low-permeability heavy oil reservoirs due to the viscosifying action of W/O emulsification and high mobility contrast between oil and CO2. Here we propose a new enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process which involves water-based nanofluid-alternating-CO2 (NWAG) injection, and investigate the synergistic effect of nanofluid and CO2 for enhancing heavy oil recovery. Firstly, the oil-nanofluid and oil-water emulsions were prepared, and the bulk rheology and interfacial properties of emulsion fluid were tested. Then, core flooding tests were conducted to examine the NWAG flooding efficiency and its underlying mechanisms. The results showed that the bulk viscosity and viscoelasticity of oil-nanofluid emulsion reported much lower than those of oil-water emulsion, and nanofluid presented a positive contribution to the phase inversion from W/O to O/W emulsification. Compared with oil-water emulsion, the interfacial storage modulus of oil-nanofluid emulsion was obviously increased, which confirmed that more of crude oil heavy components with surface activity (e.g., resin and asphaltene) were adsorbed on interfacial film with the addition of silica nanoparticles (NPs). However, the interfacial viscosity of oil-nanofluid emulsion was much lower than that of oil-water emulsion, showing the irregularity of interfacial adsorption. This implied that the self-assembly structure of crude oil heavy component of the oil-water interface was destroyed due to the surface activity of silica NPs. During the core flooding experiments, NWAG injection could reduce the displacement pressure by 57.14% and increase oil recovery by 23.31% compared to WAG injection. By comparing produced-oil components after WAG and NWAG injection, we found that more of crude oil light components were extracted by CO2 during NWAG flooding, showing that the interaction between CO2 and crude oil was improved after oil-nanofluid emulsification. These findings clearly indicated two main EOR mechanisms of NWAG injection. One was the phase inversion during the nanofluid flooding process. The addition of silica NPs promoted phase-inversion emulsification and thus improved the displacement efficiency. The other was the enhanced interaction between CO2 and crude oil after oil-nanofluid emulsification. Because of the enhanced adsorption of crude oil heavy component on the oil-water interface, the proportion of light hydrocarbon increased in the bulk phase, and so the interaction between CO2 and oil phase was improved. This work could provide a new insight into the high-efficiency exploitation of low-permeability heavy oil reservoirs.

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