Surfactant and Surfactant-Polymer Flooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Investigation has been made to characterize the surfactant solution in terms of its ability to reduce the surface tension and the interaction between surfactant and polymer in its aqueous solution. A series of flooding experiments have been carried out to find the additional recovery using surfactant and surfactant polymer slug. Approximately 0.5 pore volume (PV) surfactant (Sodium dodecylsulfate) slug was injected in surfactant flooding, while 0.3 PV surfactant slug and 0.2 PV polymer (partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide) slug were injected for surfactant-polymer flooding. In each case chase water was used to maintain the pressure gradient. The additional recovery in surfactant and polymer augmented surfactant flooding were found around 20% and 23% respectively.Key words: Enhanced oil recovery; Surfactant; Polymer; Surface tension; Flooding