Enhanced Oil Recovery from the Methyl Ester Sulfonate Derived from Flaxseed Oil: Interfacial, Adsorption and Rock Wetting Characteristics

The current work aims at the application of fatty acid methyl sulfonated products derived from Flaxseed oil for enhanced oil recovery. The product was characterized with the GCMS (gas chromatography mass spectrometry), FTIR (fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), FESEM (field emission scanning electron microscopy), EDX (energy dispersive X-ray analysis) and TGA (therogravimetric analysis). Conductivity tests revealed that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of Flaxseed surfactant is 7004 ppm. The amount of surfactant loss on the sand surfaces was found to be 10.42 mg/g which was quite lower as compared to that of the previous studies. Interfacial tension (IFT) was found to decrease up to 0.25 mN/m upon introduction of Flaxseed surfactant. Also, the slug showed pseudoplastic behavior at a lower shear rate whereas it showed shear thickening behavior at a higher shear rate. Finally, sand pack flooding tests were conducted and similar to 48 % of oil recovered during water flooding whereas an additional similar to 28 % of the oil was recovered as improved oil recovery.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the use of fatty acid methyl sulfonated products derived from Flaxseed oil for enhanced oil recovery. Characterization tests showed that the Flaxseed surfactant had a low critical micelle concentration, reduced interfacial tension, and exhibited desirable rheological properties. Sand pack flooding tests demonstrated that the use of Flaxseed surfactant significantly increased the oil recovery rate.