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Description
Numerous studies and field applications have shown that emulsification is an important mechanism that significantly increases the volume of recovered oil. Specifically, emulsion delays the breakthrough time and improves the vertical sweep efficiency by selectively blocking larger pores and altering the injected fluid’s viscosity. In this work, a series of core flooding experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of emulsion generation and the effective recovery scenario during core flooding. Preliminary experiments were conducted to determine best anionic surfactant concentration based on its influence on emulsion stability. Alpha-olefin sulfonate (AOS) surfactant with concentrations of 1000, 2000, and 3000 ppm was used during the experimental study. The stability of the generated emulsion was further examined by assessing droplet size distribution and structural integrity using a microscope. Two scenarios of surfactant flooding were performed as secondary injection and tertiary injection modes before and after an initial water flooding stages, respectively, on Berea sandstone cores with permeability ~230 mD. The experimental results revealed that in-situ emulsification induced by surfactant injections improved the cumulative oil recovery compared to that after conventional water flooding. In the other hand, surfactant flooding as secondary injection mode gives a more promising results by higher recovery factor compared to surfactant flooding as a tertiary injection mode. These findings demonstrate that surfactant injections can substantially enhance oil recovery by promoting the formation of stable in situ emulsions within sandstone reservoirs.
Keywords: Core flooding, Enhanced oil recovery, In-situ emulsion, Porous media, Surfactant
| Country | Kazakhstan |
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