Comparative Study on Surfactants Mixtures in Aqueous Solution at Atmospheric Pressure and 10 bar Reservoir Atmosphere

Abstract

This paper considers anionic and nonionic surfactants, as candidates for crude oil production by enhancement applications. In this study some colloidal properties of surfactants were tested by conventional and new test methods. The oil in water type emulsions have great importance in the petroleum industry. The stability of crude oil in water emulsions are investigated in a wide range of physical and chemical circumstances. Investigations at 10 bar are needed to get knowledges on the real conditions of the given petroleum exploration processes. A special glass cell was used for the tests of the mixtures various crude oil-water emulsions under hydrocarbon gas atmosphere and for the oil disclapement efficiency. Based on the experimental results it was found that emulsifying capacity was changed significantly by the real process conditions. The decrease of the density of hydrocarbon phase was contributed to the overall reduction in the efficiency of emulsifiers also occurred. Based on the experimented data it is supported to pay more attention to apply the real test conditions or approximate the real values.