Improving the Heavy Oil Recovery by Surfactants from Wastes

Abstract

The amount of crude oil available must be sufficient to meet global demand. As a result, the oil industry has been obliged to recover oil from more difficult places and develop methods for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This chapter focuses on the phase behavior properties inside the reservoir in connection with surfactant flooding and oil/brine systems in relation to enhanced oil recovery. To achieve this purpose, three groups of nonionic and anionic surfactants were prepared from waste and local materials. The surface activity and thermodynamic properties for three surfactant groups have been investigated at reservoir conditions. The solubilization parameters and relative phase volume were also studied to determine the optimal solubilization parameters and optimal salinity. The dynamic IFT and contact angle were measured at the optimal salinity. The sand pack flooding by using surfactant system predicted the performance of microemulsion in oil recovery by surfactant individually and its blends on chemical flooding system in semipilot EOR unit.