Green surfactant in oil recovery: Synthesis of a biocompatible surfactant and feasibility study of its application in foam-based enhanced oil recovery

Increasing demand for chemical additives in the petroleum industry has raised environmental consequences that limit their usage due to governmental guidelines. Nowadays, the design and production of chemical formulas that match environmental considerations is the trend in scientific societies and is growing fast. In this study, we developed a novel biocompatible surfactant and analyzed its applications in surfactant-stabilized foam. Our surfactant can be used in chemical enhanced oil recovery while it has comparable results with the two common surfactants previously used in literature. Our experimental procedure comprises two main parts: surfactant synthesis and feasibility study of its implementation in the EOR process. In the first part, the surfactant molecules were generated via a set of chemical reactions, and then characterization tests such as FT-IR, H NMR, and CHNSO were used to identify surfactant structure and validate the synthesis process. The critical micelle concentration of the surfactant was then measured to be 2521 ppm, and its behavior in the fluid-fluid interface was assessed in different salinity conditions and oil types. The second part presents the foam-forming ability of the surfactant. Foam stability was examined in different surfactant concentrations, salinities, oil types, oil concentration, and pH, and the synergic effects of these parameters with temperature were also studied in detail. In the end, four sets of core flooding tests were used to describe foam behavior in porous media. Our results reveal that the generated surfactant has the potential to be applied in comprehensive laboratory and field studies because the foam can yield 15 % extra oil in water-wet foam flooding and can produce 11 % more oil from the water flooded oil-wet rock.

Automated summary

Increasing demand for chemical additives in the petroleum industry has prompted the need to develop environmentally-friendly alternatives. In this study, a novel biocompatible surfactant was synthesized and its application in surfactant-stabilized foam was analyzed. The surfactant showed comparable results to commonly used surfactants in chemical enhanced oil recovery. The experimental procedure included surfactant synthesis and feasibility study of its implementation. The results suggest that the surfactant has potential for application in laboratory and field studies, increasing oil yield.