Optimum Formulation of Surfactant/Water/Oil Systems for Minimum Interfacial Tension or Phase Behavior

作者：Jean‐Louis Salager, James C. Morgan, Robert Schechter, WILLIAM H. WADE, E. Vasquez · 发表于：Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal · 年份：1979 · DOI：10.2118/7054-pa · 被引用次数：538 · 研究领域：Surfactants and Colloidal Systems、Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques、Petroleum Processing and Analysis

Abstract A screening test used to help select surfactant systems potentially effective for oil recovery is to identify those formulations that yield middle-phase microemulsions when mixed with sufficient quantities of oil and brine. A correlation is presented to link these variables regarding their presented to link these variables regarding their contributions to middle-phase formation: structure of the sulfonated surfactant, alkane carbon number (ACN), and alcohol type and concentration. WOR and temperature effects are introduced as correction terms added to the empirical correlation.Sets of variables that give middle-phase microemulsions are shown as identical to those defining the low tension state without observable middle phases. This generally occurs for low surfactant phases. This generally occurs for low surfactant concentrations. Introduction Healy and Reed and Healy et al. have shown that the phase behavior of surfactant/brine/oil systems is a key factor in interpreting the performance of oil recovery by microemulsion performance of oil recovery by microemulsion processes. By systematically varying salinity, processes. By systematically varying salinity, they found low interfacial tensions and high solubilization of both oil and water in the microemulsion phase to occur in or near the salinity ranges giving phase to occur in or near the salinity ranges giving three phases. Since both low interfacial tensions and a high degree of solubilization are considered desira...