Investigating the Emulsion Behavior of Heavy Crude Oil in Presence of a New Designed Surfactant and a Group of Alkalis

A new-designed surfactant was prepared with capability of tolerating high saline formation water and real oil reservoir conditions. The specific emulsion behavior of this new chemical was investigated by doing all sets of emulsion stability and emulsion behavior tests in presence of different alkalis. Four types of alkalis (Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Metaborate, and Triethanolamine) were mixed with the surfactant and their combined effect on aqueous-oil emulsion behavior was inspected. The experimental results showed that the optimum phase behavior/interfacial tension region of the chemical combination was very dependent on the nature of the used components. Mixtures of the surfactant and Triethanolamine gave the optimum three-phase region at higher salinity conditions in comparison with the three other alkali/surfactant mixtures. The solubilization-ratio for all set of chemical mixtures were evaluated using the static bottle tests and the results showed a reasonable value for almost all the cases; this reveals a promising condition for the emulsion positive role during chemical flooding in the oil reservoirs. The synergistic effect of the new surfactant and in-situ soap generated as a result of alkali and acidic crude oil reaction made the overall process favorable in the case of emulsion generation in porous media.