Surfactant-Enhanced Assisted Spontaneous Imbibition for Enhancing Oil Recovery in Tight Oil Reservoirs: Experimental Investigation of Surfactant Types, Concentrations, and Temperature Impact

Fuyong Wang (), Haojie Hua () and Lu Wang
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Fuyong Wang: State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development, Beijing 100083, China
Haojie Hua: Unconventional Petroleum Research Institute, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing 102249, China
Lu Wang: No. 7 Oil Production Plant, PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Company, Qingyang 745700, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Surfactant-assisted spontaneous imbibition is an important mechanism in enhanced oil recovery by capillary pressure in low permeability and tight oil reservoirs. Though many experiments have been conducted to study the mechanism of enhanced oil recovery by surfactant-assisted spontaneous imbibition, the effects of surfactant type, concentration, and temperature have not been well studied. Using tight sandstone outcrop core samples with similar permeability and porosity, this paper experimentally studies surfactant-assisted spontaneous imbibition using three different surfactant types, i.e., sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS), cocamidopropyl betaine (CAB), and C12–14 fatty alcohol glycoside (APG). In addition to the type of surfactant, the effect of the surfactant concentration and the temperature is also investigated. The study results show that the ultimate oil recovery of spontaneous imbibition with formation water and denoised water is about 10%. Surfactant can significantly improve the oil recovery of spontaneous imbibition by reducing the interfacial tension between oil and water, emulsifying crude oil and improving oil mobility. APG showed better performance compared to SDBS and CAB, with a maximum oil recovery factor of 36.19% achieved with formation water containing 0.05% APG surfactant. Lower concentrations (0.05% APG) in the formation water resulted in a higher oil recovery factor compared to 0.1% APG. Increasing temperature also improves oil recovery by reducing oil viscosity. This empirical study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanism of surfactant-assisted spontaneous imbibition and enhanced oil recovery in tight oil reservoirs.

Keywords: spontaneous imbibition; surfactant; enhanced oil recovery; interfacial tension; tight oil (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: 2024
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