A Study on the Optimization of Surfactants in the Main and Vice Slug in Weak Base ASP Flooding

Bin Huang, Wei Zhang, Huan Liu, Cheng Fu, Pengxin Feng and Ying Wang
Additional contact information
Bin Huang: College of Petroleum Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China
Wei Zhang: College of Petroleum Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China
Huan Liu: College of Petroleum Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China
Cheng Fu: College of Petroleum Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China
Pengxin Feng: College of Petroleum Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing 163318, China
Ying Wang: Chemical Engineering Department, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: In ASP (Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer) flooding processes, surfactants help to enhance oil recovery by lowering the interfacial tension between the oil and water. However, due to the high cost of surfactants and the stability of the emulsion that varies with surfactant concentration, it is necessary to optimize the surfactant concentration in ASP flooding. In this study, we combined numerical simulation and physical experimental research to solve this problem. In order to screen for the optimal surfactant concentration in the main and vice slugs, CMG (Computer Measurement Group) numerical simulation software was used to change the surfactant concentration in the injected compound system and the oil recovery factor and the recovery percent of reserves were compared. The physical experiments were also carried out with different surfactant concentrations and the results verified the simulation results. It shows that the recovery factor increases with the surfactant concentration. The optimal surfactant concentration in the main and vice slug are 0.3% and 0.15%, respectively. As for improving the recovery factor, it is more efficient to increase the mass fraction of the surfactant in the vice slug than in the main slug. It demonstrates that the amount of surfactant in the main slug plays a more important role in displacing oil from the formation.

Keywords: ASP (Alkali-Surfactant-Polymer) flooding; weak base; optimal surfactant concentration; numerical simulation; oil recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/304/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/304/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:10:y:2017:i:3:p:304-:d:92016

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().