A Systematic Study to Assess Displacement Performance of a Naturally-Derived Surfactant in Flow Porous Systems

Aghil Moslemizadeh, Hossein Khayati, Mohammad Madani, Mehdi Ghasemi, Khalil Shahbazi, Sohrab Zendehboudi and Azza Hashim Abbas
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Aghil Moslemizadeh: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran 158754413, Iran
Hossein Khayati: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz 6318714317, Iran
Mohammad Madani: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran 158754413, Iran
Mehdi Ghasemi: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran 158754413, Iran
Khalil Shahbazi: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Petroleum University of Technology, Ahwaz 6318714317, Iran
Sohrab Zendehboudi: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X7, Canada
Azza Hashim Abbas: School of Mining and Geosciences, Nazarbayev University, Nur Sultan 010000, Kazakhstan

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-21

Abstract: For the first time, the present work assesses the feasibility of using Korean red ginseng root extract, a non-ionic surfactant, for the purposes of enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The surfactant is characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis. Pendant drop and sessile drop techniques are employed to study the oil–water interfacial tension (IFT) and wettability nature of the sandstone rock, respectively. In addition, oil recovery enhancement is investigated using micromodel and core floods. In the salt-free system, IFT measurements indicate that the surfactant carries a critical micelle concentration of 5 g/L. In a saline medium (up to 50 g/L), the addition of a surfactant with different concentrations leads to an IFT reduction of 47.28–84.21%. In a constant surfactant concentration, a contact angle reduction is observed in the range of 5.61–9.30°, depending on salinity rate, revealing a wettability alteration toward more water-wet. Surfactant flooding in the glass micromodel provides a more uniform sweeping, which leads to an oil recovery enhancement of 3.02–11.19%, depending on the extent of salinity. An optimal salt concentration equal to 30 g/L can be recognized according to the results of previous tests. Surfactant flooding (10 g/L) in optimal salt concentration achieves an additional oil recovery of 7.52% after conventional water flooding.

Keywords: non-ionic surfactant; interfacial tension; wettability; micromodel and core flooding; salinity (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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