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A New Approach to Use Mixture of Surfactants to Face Salinity Gradient in Microemulsion Flooding
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 79th EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2017, Jun 2017, Volume 2017, p.1 - 5
Abstract
Among different chemical enhanced oil recovery techniques, microemulsion is introduced as one of the most effective methods. The main goal in microemulsion flooding design is to keep as much surfactant as possible in the active region, minimize surfactant retention and maximize oil production. Achieving this goal is complicated because any change in composition of the surfactant/oil/water system strongly influences the emulsion phase behavior and hence alters the active region of the surfactant composition. In this study, we present a novel approach to effectively use surfactant mixtures in order to face the salinity gradient in microemulsion flooding. Results of the experimental investigation of mixture of two anionic surfactants are used to set up a numerical model and simulate the composition gradient design in microemulsion flooding. This new approach can be used as a tool to dynamically control component of each surfactant in a mixture, and to keep the microemulsion at its optimal condition.