Exploring the Potential Application of Palm Methyl Ester Sulfonate as an Interfacial Tension Reducing Surfactant for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

As the petroleum industry is facing challenges to add more oil reserves in their book, greater emphasis has been placed on improving the ultimate recovery factor for oilfields. When the recovery from primary and secondary methods could not be improved further, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) generally will be sought as the last option. One of the techniques applied in EOR is known as surfactant flooding. Though surfactants are very effective for the incremental oil recovery, there are implications during the post-flooding process. EOR surfactants that derived from petrochemicals generally display negative effects towards the marine ecosystem. This initial study aims to evaluate the potential application of palm oil based methyl ester sulfonate (MES) as a possible candidate for EOR application. Three qualitative and quantitative tests were performed on MES to evaluate its properties and capabilities for application in a specific offshore field. The results obtained from the qualitative compatibility and stability tests show that this anionic surfactant has great stability and compatibility with the brine solution as there are no visible signs of precipitation formation. However, the qualitative phase behavior test results indicated that the surfactant solution although has the ability to react with the crude oil but not at the required micro-emulsion state. In addition, the quantitative interfacial tension (IFT) test results also verified and supported the phase behavior test results where the strength of the MES was not adequate as a single surfactant system to achieve the ultra-low IFT state.

Review of the Application of Natural Surfactants in Enhanced Oil Recovery: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives

“…Furtherore, palm oil based natural surfactant was used to reduce IFT in another research. And it was observed that IFT value reduced from 18 to 0.5 mN/m at the CMC about 0.1 wt.% . In another study, α-sodium ethel ester surfactant was synthesized from palm oil.…”

“…( Sodium methyl ester sulfonate, ethyl ester sulfonate, alphasulfonated ethyl ester, and sodium-epoxidized MES (SEMES) can be considered as typical examples of this type of natural anionic surfactant; these are produced from the natural oil such as coconut oil, 76 jatropha oil, 77 mahua oil, 78 waste chicken fat, 79 and palm oil. 80 Other than sulfonate type, sulfate types are the other class of natural anionic surfactants as well. This kind of anionic surfactant has a high tolerance for salinity but a low tolerance for temperature.…”

“…And it was observed that IFT value reduced from 18 to 0.5 mN/m at the CMC about 0.1 wt.%. 80 In another study, α-sodium ethel ester surfactant was synthesized from palm oil. the effect of this surfactant to reduce IFT between the aqueous phase and crude oil was superior at 0.8 wt.%.…”

A study on the bio-based surfactant sodium cocoyl alaninate as a foaming agent for enhanced oil recovery in high-salt oil reservoirs

“…[22][23][24][25] The methyl ester sulfonate surfactant extracted from palm oil has also been proven to have good thermal stability and can withstand brine containing Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ . 26 N-lauroyl-L-lysine extracted from lysine, with a critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 0.4, can alter rock wettability in high salinity brine, reduce IFT by more than 40%, and has a recovery factor of about 29.61%. 27,28 Alkyl polyglucoside sodium hydroxypropyl sulfonate extracted from glucoside is effective in combination with cationic surfactant for application in low-permeability reservoirs and can maintain ultra-low IFT and low CMC.…”