Micelles composed of mixed surfactants with different structures (mixed micelles) are of great theoretical and industrial interest. This work pertains to maximizing interfacial tension (IFT) reduction via surfactant pairs. In this respect, four types of fatty acid amides based on lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic acids were blended with dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid at a molar ratio of 4:1 and designated as A 1 , A 2 , A 3 , and A 4 , respectively. The IFT was measured for each blend at different concentrations using Badri crude oil. The most potent formula (A 4 ) was evaluated for using in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The IFT was tested in the presence of different electrolyte concentrations with different crude oils at different temperatures. Finally several runs were devoted to study the displacement of Badri crude oil by A 4 surfactant solution using different slug sizes of 10, 20, and 40% of pore volume (PV). The study reveled that Badri crude oil gave ultra-low IFT at lowest surfactant concentration and 0.5% of NaCl. The recovery factor at a slug size of 20% PV was 83% of original oil in place compared with 59% in case of conventional water flood.Paper no. JSD1079 in JSD 2, 201-205 (April 1999). KEY WORDS:Enhanced oil recovery, ethoxylation, interfacial tension, nonionic surfactants, and water solubility. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThis work briefly discusses some of the advantages of using blended surfactants, notably enhanced mobility con-FIG. 4. Effect of temperature on IFT between Badri crude oil and A 4 at optimal surfactant concentration and optimal salinity. See Figure 1 for abbreviation. 204 M. EL-BATANONEY ET AL. FIG. 6. Effect of surfactant slug size on oil recovery by surfactant water flood: ■ at 1 pore volume (PV), ▲ at 2 PV, × at 3 PV on Badri crude oil at 1% of blend A 4 and 0.5% of NaCl. FIG. 5. IFT vs. surfactant concentration of A 4 with different types of crude oils: ◆ Badri, ■ Ras Fanar, ▲ ▲ Belayiem crude oil at 30°C and 0% NaCl. See Figure 1 for abbreviation.

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