Study of Enhanced Oil Recovery and Adsorption Using Glycerol in Surfactant Solution

Study of Enhanced Oil Recovery and Adsorption Using Glycerol in Surfactant Solution

Over time, oil production in a reservoir tends to decrease, which makes it difficult to flow through the reservoir to the well, making its production increasingly difficult and costly. Due to their physical properties, such as reducing the water/oil interfacial tension, surfactants have been used in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 12; p. 3135
Main Authors: Curbelo, Fabiola D. S., Garnica, Alfredo Ismael C., Leite, Danilo F. Q., Carvalho, Amanda B., Silva, Raphael R., Paiva, Evanice M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-06-2020
Subjects:
Adsorbents
Adsorption
Chemical reactions
Coconut oil
Efficiency
Enhanced oil recovery
Fluids
Glycerol
Oil recovery
Physical properties
Pollutants
Reservoirs
Rheological properties
Saline water
Sandstone
saponified coconut oil
Surface tension
surfactant flooding
Surfactants
Thermogravimetric analysis
Viscosity
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Summary:Over time, oil production in a reservoir tends to decrease, which makes it difficult to flow through the reservoir to the well, making its production increasingly difficult and costly. Due to their physical properties, such as reducing the water/oil interfacial tension, surfactants have been used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes, however, their adsorption presents as an undesirable and inevitable factor and can decrease the efficiency of the method. This work’s main objective is to evaluate the effect of glycerol in the adsorption of surfactants in sandstones, as well as in the recovery factor during EOR. Brine solutions containing the nonionic surfactant saponified coconut oil (SCO), with and without glycerol, were used in the adsorption and oil recovery tests in sandstone. Adsorption, recovery, rheological, and thermogravimetric analysis were carried out. Regarding the surfactant/glycerol/brine solution, there was an improvement in the oil mobility, as the glycerol contributed to an increase in the viscosity of the solution, thereby increasing the sweep efficiency. The recovery factor obtained for the surfactant solution with glycerol was satisfactory, being 53% higher than without glycerol, because it simultaneously provided an increase in viscosity and a decrease in interfacial tension, both of which are beneficial for the efficiency of the process.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en13123135