Suitability ofSurfactants in Enhanced Oil Recovery

As the EOR technology is yet to be introduced in Malaysia, an initial study have to be
started to determine its suitability. Thus, chemical EOR or chemical flooding, as a
possible candidate of EOR method to be run in Malaysia, has to be studied its
compatibility with the Malaysia oil field conditions.
This project intended to study suitability of surfactant with Malaysian crude oil and sea
water through analyzing certain parameter in EOR. In this project, the interaction of
selected surfactant with water mixture and crude oil from Malaysian oil field is
determined through interfacial tension (IFT) analysis. Instead of that, the suitable
polymer compatible with the Malaysia reservoir need to be determined to be used along
with the selected surfactant.
The analysis began with preparation of water blends and crude oil, before the test on
polymer and surfactant is done. The main technique used in this project is the analysis
of IFT using spinning drop tensiometer. The final surfactant candidate also undergoes
phase behavior test to determine the interaction between surfactant solution with crude
oil at different water mixtures and surfactant concentrations.
From the study, the surfactant that has the best performance with Malaysia fluid
condition is Sample 6-79 as it shows the lowest range of IFT at all testing condition.
Apart from that, the polymer Superfloc BD319 have shown the best results compared to
the other polymer tested and have the potential use with the surfactant to be applied in
the chemical flooding in Malaysia.