Mechanisms for the interfacial reaction between acidic oils and alkaline reagents

A dynamic model for the interaction of caustic reagents with acidic oils

“…Each acid species present in the mixture undergoes the various interfacial reactions that had been previously outlined (Chiwetelu et al, 1988a;Chiwetelu, 1988), without any interference from other acidic constituents.…”

“…The model relies on the Langmuirian theory of interfacial sorption kinetics in addition to the Nernstian theory of convective diffusion. Pertinent kinetic and mass transfer parameters for all contributing surface-active species were determined from a recently proposed single-component dynamic model (Chiwetelu et al, 1988a). The validity of this multicomponent dynamic model was confirmed by the close agreement between predicted IFT and experimental data for a binary carboxylic acid system in contact with a broad range of caustic concentrations.…”

“…Recently, we proposed a single-component dynamic model (Chiwetelu et al, 1988a) which is a physico-chemical analysis applied to the specific geometry of the micropcndographic measurement system. In this model, the powerful tool of nonlinear regression (Marquardt, 1963) was combined with sensitivity analysis (Bard, 1974) in order to obtain reliable estimates of the sorptive kinetic rate parameters that influence the dynamic interfacial tension.…”

Effect of Added Surfactants on the Dynamic Interfacial Tension Behaviour of Alkaline/Diluted Heavy Crude Oil System

“…These species may either adsorb at the oil/water interface, or diffuse to the bulk aqueous or oil phases. The dynamic IFT behaviour is a function of these interfacial active species concentration, which depends on their rates of adsorption and desorption from the interface [4][5][6]. Rudin and Wasan [7] have found that the IFT goes through an ultra low minimum in certain pH ranges.…”

A Physico-chemical Model of Seepage Flows in Reservoirs during Alkaline Flooding

“…The injected alkaline reagents can react with the acidic species contained in the crude oils, resulting in the formation of surface-active soap species. The adsorption of the in-situ produced surfactant can tremendously lower the interfacial tension (IFT) by several orders of magnitude to ultra-low values [2] and change the wettability of the reservoir [3]. This is the main mechanism that caustic chemical flooding may improve oil recovery.…”