Model for interfacial activity of acidic crude oil-caustic systems for alkaline flooding

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6185217

Ramakrishnan, T S; Wasan, D T

The interaction of the alkali in flood water and the acids in reservoir crude results in the in situ formation of surfactants, which are responsible for the lowering of interfacial tension (IFT) in caustic flooding. The extent ot which IFT is lowered depends on the specific properties of the crude oil and the injection water. Therefore, it is important to establish the relationship between IFT and the essential chemical properties of the acidic oil and the flood water. This paper presents such a relationship. In this discussion, the adsorption and the desorption of the active species at the interface are modeled as ionic processes using the Gouy-Chapman theory of the diffuse double layer. The interfacial potentials calculated using this model show a fair agreement with the experimentally measured trend of electrophoretic mobility. Also, the model rationalizes the experimentally observed effects of alkali concentration, salinity and the oleic to aqueus phase ratio on IFT. It is concluded that the acid number of the crude oil may not directly correlate with interfacial activity. Even in cases of low acid number crudes, significant interfacial activity could be obtained because of highly hydrophobic active species in the crude.

• Research Organization: Illinois Inst. of Tech., Chicago
• DOE Contract Number: AC19-79BC10069
• OSTI ID: 6185217
• Report Number(s): CONF-820419-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ADSORPTION
CAUSTIC FLOODING
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLOW MODELS
FLUID FLOW
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OIL WELLS
PETROLEUM
RECOVERY
SORPTION
WATERFLOODING
WELLS