ABRAHAM, DAMILOLA VICTORIA and Covenant University, Theses (2021) SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION OF SURFACTANTS FROM SELECTED VEGETABLE OILS FOR ENHANCED HEAVY- OIL RECOVERY. ["eprint_fieldopt_thesis_type_phd" not defined] thesis, COVENANT UNIVERSITY.
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Abstract
Due to the high cost of production of surfactants from petrochemical feedstock, vegetable oils are given considerable attention as another source of feedstock. In this work, the synthesis of surfactants from jatropha oil, castor oil, and palm kernel oil for application in chemical enhanced oil recovery was carried out. The vegetable oils were synthesized by Sulphonation reaction to produce surfactants. The synthesized surfactants were evaluated for recovery of heavy crude from heavy crude oil reservoirs and their performance was compared to those of commercial surfactants. This was achieved by studying the effect of the synthesized surfactants in interfacial tension (IFT) reduction, phase behaviour experiments, and core flooding experiments. The physicochemical properties of the vegetable oils evaluated include viscosity, specific gravity, acid value, and saponification value based on the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) methods. The interfacial tension between the crude oil, brine, and surfactants were measured using the Du-Nouy tensiometer. This was achieved by varying brine and surfactant concentrations done at ambient temperature (27oC) and at reservoir temperature (60oC). The results from the IFT experiments showed that at 10000 ppm, the IFT reduced from 19.8 mN/m to 13.5 mN/m, 13.1 mN/m, 13.4 mN/m, 13.6 mN/m, and 13.3 mN/m with the application of Jatropha, Castor, Palm Kernel, Alpha Olefin Sulfonate (AOS) and Methyl Ester Sulfonate (MES) surfactants respectively. Phase behavior analyses were conducted at a fixed ratio of surfactants to oil in the presence of brine. The surfactant/water/oil system formed a middle phase microemulsion in the presence of Sodium Chloride (NaCl). The result showed that the microemulsion (ME) decreased with a decrease in surfactant concentration values. The microemulsion phase changes from Winsor Type I to Winsor Type II via Winsor Type III. The anionic surfactant, AOS showed the ability to form a three-phase microemulsion. The performance of the synthesized surfactants was then evaluated in core flooding experiments. This was done by investigating the effect of various surfactant concentrations on the recovery of the original oil in place. The cores were first flooded with water when no oil was produced, surfactant flooding was initiated. The range of the oil recovery from the waterflooding process was 24 - 39.29 %. Using 10,000 ppm concentration of Jatropha, Castor, Palm Kernel, Alpha Olefin Sulfonate, and Methyl Ester Sulfonate surfactants gave incremental recovery of 19.3, 41.83, 40.40, 7.40, and 34.79 % respectively. With an increase in surfactant concentration to 20,000 ppm, the percentage of the oil recovered increased to 30.77, 46.41, 44.17, 25.68, and 37.93 % respectively. The Castor based surfactant showed the best results in the reduction of interfacial tension and the percentage of original oil in place recovered.
| Item Type: | Thesis (["eprint_fieldopt_thesis_type_phd" not defined]) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Core flooding, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Interfacial Tension, Sulphonation, and Synthesized Surfactants. |
| Subjects: | T Technology > T Technology (General) |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics > School of Engineering Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Mrs Hannah Akinwumi |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Sep 2021 13:11 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Sep 2021 13:11 |
| URI: | http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/15361 |
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