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4 - Surfactant Adsorption in Porous Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2009

By
Laura L. Wesson  and
Jeffrey H. Harwell
Edited by
Laurier L. Schramm
Laura L. Wesson
Affiliation:
The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Jeffrey H. Harwell
Affiliation:
The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Laurier L. Schramm
Affiliation:
Petroleum Recovery Institute, Calgary, Canada
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Summary

An overview of some of the significant findings of surfactant adsorption research is presented. Subjects include the importance of surfactant adsorption in petroleum applications, some history of surfactant adsorption research, the mechanisms which have been proposed to explain observed adsorption behavior, and a review of several significant surfactant adsorption studies. The emphasis of this review is understanding the mechanisms of surfactant adsorption as they relate to applications of surfactants in petroleum processes.

Introduction

Surfactants have a variety of applications in the petroleum industry, and surfactant adsorption is a consideration in any application where surfactants come in contact with a solid surface. In enhanced or improved oil recovery (EOR or IOR) surfactants can be used in classic micellar/polymer (surfactant) flooding, alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding or in foams for mobility control or blocking and diverting. Surfactants can act in several ways to enhance oil production: by reducing the interfacial tension between oil trapped in small capillary pores and the water surrounding those pores, thus allowing the oil to be mobilized; by solubilizing oil (some micellar systems); by forming emulsions of oil and water (alkaline methods); by changing the wettability of the oil reservoir (alkaline methods) or by simply enhancing the mobility of the oil. In selecting a suitable surfactant for any EOR application, one of the criteria for economic success is minimizing surfactant loss to adsorption.

Type
Chapter
Information
Surfactants
Fundamentals and Applications in the Petroleum Industry
 , pp. 121 - 158
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

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