Oil Displacement Performance of Alkanolamide Surfactants and its Compound System for High Calcium and Magnesium Reservoirs

Abstract

In order to solve the problem of poor oil displacement, poor stability and high cost of common surfactants applied in high calcium and magnesium reservoirs, alkanolamide surfactants were synthesized and modeled in the research. In addition, the compound of alkanolamide and AES in high calcium and magnesium reservoirs were investigated systematically, and the effect of temperature, salinity, calcium and magnesium ions concentration on its performance was also studied. Experimental results showed that the synthesized alkanolamide surfactants have low interfacial tension and critical micelle concentration, and diethanolamide laurate/AES (4:1) could decrease the oil-water interfacial tension to 3 μN/m, and performed well under high salinity, elevated calcium and magnesium ions concentration, and high temperature. The compound of alkanolamide and AES has a good application prospect in the flooding of high calcium and magnesium reservoirs.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #130002© Petroleum Drilling Techniques, Issue 3, 2018