Cosurfactant blends for oil recovery surfactant system

Patent · Tue Mar 31 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6416505

Glinsmann, G R; Hedges, J H

A first and second series of aqueous surfactant-cosurfactantelectrolyte systems are prepared at varying electrolyte concentrations using, respectively, a relatively water insoluble cosurfactant and a relatively water soluble cosurfactant. The resulting systems are mixed with oil to be displaced or its equivalent and allowed to equilibrate so as to determine the salinity at which the microemulsion phases formed on said equilibration have approximately equal volumes of oil and water, thus giving the optimal salinity concentration for each surfactant-cosurfactant combination. Similar equilibrations are made using at least one surfactant system which employs a cosurfactant of intermediate water solubility. These systems are then used under the same or similar conditions to displace oil at the optimal salinity for each system and the resulting oil recovery percentage is plotted versus the salinity. Thereafter using the relationship that increasing the more water soluble component of the cosurfactant increases the optimum salinity value and vice versa, a cosurfactant blend is prepared so as to give a system which has an optimum salinity essentially corresponding to the unique salinity.

• Assignee: Phillips Petroleum Co
• Patent Number(s): US 4258789
• OSTI ID: 6416505
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ELECTROLYTES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
ESTERS
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
MICROEMULSION FLOODING
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
OIL WELLS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM SULFONATES
RECOVERY
SALINITY
SODIUM CHLORIDES
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SULFONATES
SULFONIC ACID ESTERS
SURFACTANTS
WELLS