Emulsifying stability and viscosity reduction for heavy crude oil in surfactant-polymer composite system

Ma, Hao; Li, Ning; Wang, Tongyu; Zheng, Wei; Yu, Tao; Shu, Qing; Han, You

doi:10.1016/j.molliq.2022.119713

Cited by 29 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…The apparent viscosity decreases with increasing the shear rate because the polymers can intertwine with each other in aqueous solutions with viscous properties, but as the shear rate increases, the polymer chains can roll and curl up to reduce the viscous resistance in emulsions. 49 The initial emulsions formed by the mixed systems have a viscosity of 340.8 mPa s (0.01 s −1 , pH 9.5), much lower than that of the emulsions at pH 4.5 and 7.5. The higher apparent viscosity appears at pH 4.5 (1780.1 mPa s, 0.01 s −1 ), and the intermediate viscosity appears at pH 7.5 (941.6 mPa s, 0.01 s −1 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The emulsions prepared by the mixed system exhibit the rheological behaviors of non-Newtonian fluids with shear thinning at different pH conditions (Figure d). The apparent viscosity decreases with increasing the shear rate because the polymers can intertwine with each other in aqueous solutions with viscous properties, but as the shear rate increases, the polymer chains can roll and curl up to reduce the viscous resistance in emulsions . The initial emulsions formed by the mixed systems have a viscosity of 340.8 mPa s (0.01 s –1 , pH 9.5), much lower than that of the emulsions at pH 4.5 and 7.5.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an example of complex oil/water systems (basic properties of crude oil shown in Table S3), the applications of the pH-responsive polymer PA in combination with silica particles to emulsify heavy oil and then demulsify on demand are shown below. After the heavy oil with high viscosity (50 °C, 4980 mPa·s) is emulsified into O/W emulsions, the apparent viscosity of heavy oil can show a remarkable reduction due to the aqueous solution acting as the continuous phase. , As shown in Figure a, the solution without polymers cannot reduce the viscosity of heavy oil by emulsification, but the polymer solutions without silica particles can emulsify heavy oil to significantly reduce the apparent viscosity as the concentration is more than 0.1 wt %. This suggests that the polymer enables the formation of stable heavy oil/water emulsions and silica particles alone fail to emulsify the heavy oil owing to the lack of surface activity, consistent with the results in dodecane/water systems.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novel Strategy of Polymers in Combination with Silica Particles for Reversible Control of Oil–Water Interface

Sun

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Hybrid smart emulsification systems are highly applicable in manipulating oil-in-water (O/W) droplets. Herein, novel switchable block polymers containing both zwitterionic and tertiary amine pendent groups were designed and synthesized to combine with charged silica particles to stabilize the O/W emulsion responsive to pH. This study was carried out in O/W emulsions stabilized with the polymer and silica particles under different pH conditions. The emulsion system was also simulated using molecular dynamics simulation to reveal the mechanism at molecular levels, thus gaining insight into the relationships between the emulsifying properties and the molecular interaction of the mixed system. Upon acidification of the continuous aqueous phase, protonated polymers with excellent hydrophilicity were induced by charged silica particles to cause rapid emulsion coalescence. In alkaline media, the mixed system conversely stabilized the O/ W emulsions, cutting polymer consumption by over three-quarters. The emulsification and demulsification can be switched alternately by tuning the pH conditions. The applications exhibited excellent efficiency in separating heavy oil/water emulsions and proved the high conversion rate in emulsion polymerization. Overall, with this novel strategy to relieve tedious modifications on particle surfaces and massive consumption of polymers, the designed responsive emulsification systems can impart intelligent and controllable chemical reactivity to emulsions on demand in a more affordable and sustainable way.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novel Strategy of Polymers in Combination with Silica Particles for Reversible Control of Oil–Water Interface

Sun

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…The maximum value of CMC among these surfactant systems is 2202.2 mg/L, so the working concentration is technically not less than this value to guarantee the effectiveness of SDBS. Typically, it should be kept from 0.1 to 0.5 wt % based on the previous studies. − Considering the surfactants’ adsorption and retention phenomenon in reservoir conditions, the formulation concentration was designed accordingly at 3000 mg/L (0.3 wt %).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergetic System of Zwitterionic/Anionic Surfactants with Ultralow Interfacial Tension and High Salt Resistance for Enhancing Heavy Oil Recovery

Ranimol

Cameron

2022

Energy Fuels

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Conventional water flooding strategy has limited the further development of heavy oil recovery due to the lower displacement efficiency. In this work, a potential zwitterionic/anionic surfactant system to enhance heavy oil recovery in the high salinity was proposed through low budget and feasible mixing. We evaluated the capabilities of the mixed surfactant systems consisting of zwitterionic cocoamidopropyl sulfonate betaine (CSB) and anionic sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) in terms of surface tension, interfacial tension (IFT), emulsion size distribution, emulsion stability, apparent viscosity, emulsion viscoelasticity, viscosity reduction, and recovery efficiency. The IFT could substantially reduce to an ultralow level (<10 −2 mN/m) at a higher salinity. The smaller droplets (0.1−3 μm) were formed to stabilize the heavy oil emulsions. The viscoelasticity test confirmed that the intensity of the interface film was enhanced because SDBS/CSB molecules could coabsorb at the heavy oil−water interface in a most closely packed arrangement. Furthermore, the water flooding experiments with different surfactant systems were also implemented to affirm the great potential of the synergetic surfactant systems for heavy oil recovery.

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“…The results show that small-type barriers have a positive effect on surfactant flooding to enhance oil recovery, while barriers of any structure type in SP flooding have an adverse effect. Some scholars [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] demonstrated that high salinity and can reduce the emulsification ability of the surfactant while high temperature can cause the increase in the interfacial tension for polymers, and both high salinity and high temperature can reduce the viscosity of polymer solutions. The above studies focus on the influencing factors of SP flooding in closed reservoirs, but there is no systematic study on strong edge water reservoirs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Screening Criteria of Gel-Assisted Polymer and Surfactant Binary Combination Flooding after Water Flooding in Strong Edge Water Reservoirs: A Case of Jidong Oilfield

Luo

Geng

et al. 2022

Gels

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Strong edge water reservoirs have sufficient natural energy. After long-term natural water flooding development, it is in the stage of ultrahigh water cut. There is an urgent need to change the development mode and improve the development effect. Taking Jidong Oilfield as an example, the mechanism model of strong edge water reservoirs is established by using the method of numerical simulation. Then, the factors and rules affecting the effects of gel-assisted polymer and surfactant binary combination flooding are studied. The screening criteria of gel-assisted polymer and surfactant binary combination flooding in strong edge water reservoirs are obtained. The results show that the existence of edge water is not conducive to binary combination flooding. Smaller water volumetric multiples and larger oil-bearing areas are more suitable for binary combination flooding. Compared with closed reservoirs, binary combination flooding in strong edge water reservoirs is more difficult to establish a displacement pressure gradient. The reservoir with high crude oil viscosity is not suitable for binary combination flooding. Gel-assisted polymer and surfactant binary combination flooding can be adopted for reservoirs with an oil-bearing area greater than 0.2 km2, a water volumetric multiple less than 200, and oil viscosity less than 100 mPa·s. The research results are of guiding significance for the reservoir selection of gel-assisted polymer and surfactant binary combination flooding after natural water flooding.

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Emulsifying stability and viscosity reduction for heavy crude oil in surfactant-polymer composite system

Cited by 29 publications

References 89 publications

Novel Strategy of Polymers in Combination with Silica Particles for Reversible Control of Oil–Water Interface

Novel Strategy of Polymers in Combination with Silica Particles for Reversible Control of Oil–Water Interface

Synergetic System of Zwitterionic/Anionic Surfactants with Ultralow Interfacial Tension and High Salt Resistance for Enhancing Heavy Oil Recovery

Study on Screening Criteria of Gel-Assisted Polymer and Surfactant Binary Combination Flooding after Water Flooding in Strong Edge Water Reservoirs: A Case of Jidong Oilfield

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