The effect of equilibration time and temperature on drop-drop coalescence of Wilmington crude oil in a weakly alkaline brine

Conference · Wed Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6501349

Peru, D A; Lorenz, P B

The interfacial behavior of a Wilmington crude oil was studied as part of the authors' investigations of enhanced oil recovery by weakly alkaline solutions. For some systems, the spinning drop apparatus can be used to measure transient interfacial tension (IFT) effects, coalescence times of oil drops, and film rigidity simultaneously, for rapid screening of chemical slug composition for the potential of improving oil recovery by the mechanisms of oil mobilization and oil bank formation. The experimental results presented include the effects of temperature, surface age, salinity, added surfactant, and polymer on coalescence time, film rigidity, and IFT behavior. Oil displacement tests were performed using surfactant-enhanced bicarbonate solutions formulated for improved mobility control and for improved oil mobilization and oil drop coalescence. The most significant result of this work was that the authors were able to measure the dynamics in IFT between 2 coalescing oil drops as perturbations in the equilibrium concentration of surfactant at the interface occurred during film drainage. The accuracy of the technique for measuring IFT and film rigidity improved as the contact radii between the oil drops increased.

• OSTI ID: 6501349
• Report Number(s): CONF-871113-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300 -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
023000* -- Petroleum-- Properties & Composition
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BRINES
CAUSTIC FLOODING
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
COALESCENCE
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
DROPLETS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INTERFACES
KINETICS
OIL WELLS
PARTICLES
PETROLEUM
REACTION KINETICS
RECOVERY
STIMULATION
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TIME DEPENDENCE
WATERFLOODING
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS