IPTC 16433

Effect of Main Factors on Oil Recovery of Surfactant-Polymer Flooding

Youyi Zhu, SPE, Yi Zhang, Qingfeng Hou, Hong Yuan, SPE, Guoqing Jian, State Key Laboratory of Enhanced
Oil Recovery, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, CNPC

Copyright 2013, International Petroleum Technology Conference

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Abstract
Alkali-free surfactant-polymer combination flooding (SP flooding) can avoid side-effects encountered in alkali-surfactantpolymer (ASP) combination flooding, such as scaling and corrosion damaged the lifting system, strong emulsification resulted
in produced liquid treatment problems and high cost of water handing. It can reduce the operation cost and be applied in
oilfield easily. However, the oil displacement mechanism of SP flooding is not fully understood. In this paper, the main factors
on enhancing oil recovery of SP flooding such as viscoelasticity, interfacial tension, emulsification and wettability of rocks
surface were studied based on the Berea core oil displacement tests.
The results of SP flooding physical simulation tests showed that: (1) High viscoelasticity of SP flooding was an important
factor contributing higher oil recovery. When the ratio of viscosity of the displacement fluid to that of oil was more than 2, the
higher oil recovery could be obtained by SP flooding. (2) The lower the interfacial tension, the higher the incremental oil
recovery. When the interfacial tension of oil and water decreased to 510-3mN/m level, almost the highest incremental oil
recovery of SP flooding could be obtained. Compared with the SP flooding system of solely high viscosity, more than 7-15%
incremental oil recovery could be obtained by that of both lower interfacial tension and high viscosity (3) When emulsification
intensity increased, the incremental oil recovery of SP flooding increased accordingly. Compard to the weak emulsification SP
system, more than 6-11% incremental oil recovery could be obtained by means of enhancing emulsification ability. (4) Oil
recovery of SP flooding at water-wet core condition was higher than that at intermediate-wet or oil-wet one.
Studies on main factors for oil displacement efficiency of SP flooding are very important for the formula optimization of SP
system, and they will provide foundation for scenario design of field tests and applications of SP flooding.
1 Introduction
Chemical combination flooding is one of the main chemical EOR techniques for the high water cut mature oilfields in
China. alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding pilot tests have achieved good oil recovery results in Daqing, Xinjiang,
Shengli oilfields. In Daqing oil field, ASP flooding has entered the stage of industrial test and application. As the result of
using strong alkali with high concentration in ASP formula, some problems of ASP flooding, such as severe scaling in
production well, shorter average pump-checking cycle occured with increasing frequency, and produced liquid was difficult to
handle[1]. These phenomena hinder the normal oil production process thus increase the added cost and operating frequency. In
addition, high concentration alkali has a side effect on the viscosity of ASP system. More dosages of polymer should be added
into the chemical formula in order to maintain the designed viscosity level. This process will undoubtedly increase the cost of
displacement agent used in field tests. Furthermore, the application of strong alkali in ASP flooding can lead to severe
emulsification of the produced fluid, and this problem increases the difficulty and costs of corresponding treatment processes
[2]
. In order to solve these problems of ASP flooding, alkali-free SP flooding has become a focus in recent years.
SP flooding can improve the oil recovery by introducing certain polymer and surfactant. Polymer can increase the viscosity
of fluid so as to enhance the sweep efficiency, while surfactant can improve the displacement efficiency by reducing the
interfacial tension (IFT) between oil and water, alternating wettability and emulsifing crude oil. Alkali free SP flooding can
avoid formation damage remarkably. Scaling, erosion and severe emulsification are also prevented during the process of lifting
production and produced fluid treatment. Alkali-free SP flooding system can enhance the polymer's viscosifying action and
reduce the amount of polymer. Though the increment of oil recovery by alkali-free SP flooding may be inferior to that by ASP
flooding, the operation costs of SP flooding is low and it can be applied in oilfield more easily than ASP flooding. SP flooding
is more favorable in overall input-output ratio and technical economic effects[2-5].
Even though SP flooding have various superiorities, some problems also exsist, such as the synthesis of highly active

IPTC 16433

displacement agent, the oil displacement mechanism and main influencing factors on oil recovery, the integrated technology of
pilot tests and so forth[6-12]. At present, viscosity, IFT, emulsification of SP system are considered as the main factors of
improving the oil recovery of SP flooding. The key factors of SP flooding need to be exposed by in-depth studies. In this
paper, the main factors on enhancing oil recovery of SP flooding such as viscoelasticity, interfacial tension, emulsification of
system and surface wettability of rock were studied based on Berea core oil displacement tests. These are essential to optimize
the SP formula and set the basis for SP flooding pilot tests and applications in oil fields.
2 Experimental
2.1 Test materials
Chemical agents: Polymer KYPAM was obtained from RIPED (Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and
Development) with molecular weight 2.5107 Dalton and hydrolysis degree 25%. Sodium petroleum sulphonate (PS) and
heavy alkyl benzene sulphonate (HABS) were applied as primary surfactants, obtained from RIPED and Co-surfactants used
were a sodium alkyl ethoxylate sulfonate (AES), a branched alcohol sodium propoxylated surfactant (APOS), a lauric
alkanolamide (6501), and betaine surfactants (BS) purchased from chemical reagents company. Sodium carbonate (A.C.) was
employed.
Core samples: The Berea sand cores were characterized with permeability of 330-450 mD, diameter of 3.8cm and length of
20-22 cm, respectively. Routine core analysis was first conducted to measure the dimensions, air permeability, porosity, and
pore volume of core plugs. The petrophysical parameters of the selected core were listed in Table 1.

Sample #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Table 1 basic petrophysical parameters of core samples used in core flooding experiments
Length (cm)
Diameter (cm)
Air permeability (mD) Porosity (%)
Target study
22.02
3.82
364
20.8
Viscosity influence
22.02
3.81
340
20.4
Viscosity influence
22.07
3.82
371
20.7
Viscosity influence
21.76
3.82
406
20.6
Viscosity influence
22.16
3.80
379
19.7
Viscosity influence
21.69
3.80
391
20.2
Viscosity influence
20.33
3.80
386
20.9
IFT influence
20.39
3.80
371
20.7
IFT influence
20.09
3.81
363
20.5
IFT influence
20.11
3.80
406
19.6
IFT influence
20.13
3.80
341
20.6
IFT influence
20.38
3.81
379
20.2
IFT influence
22.17
3.81
401
20.8
Emulsification influence
22.21
3.80
387
20.6
Emulsification influence
22.30
3.80
407
20.7
Emulsification influence
22.35
3.81
407
20.9
Emulsification influence
22.18
3.81
349
20.7
Emulsification influence
22.26
3.80
350
20.2
Emulsification influence
21.86
3.81
357
19.5
wettability influence
21.57
3.81
416
20.2
wettability influence
21.11
3.82
396
20.3
wettability influence

Crude oil: Dehydrated crude oil from Xinjiang Karamay oilfield, the viscosity of crude oil was 27 mPas at 40 .
Water sample: Synthetic brine of Xinjiang Karamay oilfield produced water was used in this study. The ion composition of
produced water was analyzed. The results were shown in Table 2. The total salinity was 5448.70mg/L.
Table 2 The ion composition of water sample
2+

2+

Water sample

Ca
(mg/L)

Mg
(mg/L)

Na++ K+
(mg/L)

Cl(mg/L)

SO42(mg/L)

CO32(mg/L)

HCO3(mg/L)

OH(mg/L)

Salinity
(mg/L)

Produced water

56.95

13.40

2085.05

2577.41

131.60

5.82

1156.91

0.0

5448.70

2.2 Core flooding procedure

Based on the Chinese Standard of SYT 6424-2000 test method for chemical combination flooding system property, the
Core flooding experimental methodology was proposed. Core flooding procedure is as follows: vacuumization of core and
saturation with simulation formation waterwater phase permeability measurementscrude oil saturation and irreducible
water saturation experimentswater flooding until 98% water cutSP slug (0.5PV) injectionwater flooding until 98%

IPTC 16433

Oil, water, chemicals sample cylinder

water cut.
Core flooding experimental condition:
Temperature: 40
Injection rate of fluid: 0.2 ml/min
Back pressure: 10 MPa
During the experiments, the differential pressure, oil production, water production and total fluid production are recorded
timely in order to calculate the incremental oil recovery and water cut of SP flooding precisely.
2.3 Instruments
Texas-500C spinning drop interfacial tensiometer is used to measure IFT between chemical solution and crude oil, the
equilibrium IFT value after two hours is recognized as the ultimate value in analytical process.
Brookfield viscosity measure meter is used to measure the viscosity of chemical solutions.
Core oil displacement equipment is used for oil displacement tests. Fig.1 shows the schematic of core flooding experiment
system.

Confining Pump

Back Pressure Pump

Pressure Difference
Injecting Pump

Oil and Water meter

Fig. 1 Schematic of core flooding experiment apparatus

3 Results and discussions
Systematic studies of main factors on oil recovery of SP flooding, including viscosity, IFT, emulsification of SP system and
surface wettability of rock, have been conducted by one dimension core flooding tests though certain proper formulas and
parameters.
Series of SP formula systems with various viscosity (from 20 to 91 mPas, Table 3) were prepared with different
concentration of polymer KYPAM. Petroleum sulfonate was used as a surfactant, SP systems could reduce IFT of oil and
formation water to ultra-low lever (about 510-3mN/m). The influence of viscosity of SP drive fluid on oil recovery of SP
flooding was shown in Figure 2. The results showed that the viscosity influenced the displacement efficiency significantly.
Turning point was recognized when the viscosity reached 55 mPas (viscosity ratio of displacement fluid to crude oil is about 2.
The incremental oil recovery of SP flooding and total oil recovery of SP flooding and water flooding increased dramatically
with increasing viscosity level before the turning point while after it the incremental oil recovery of SP flooding increased
slowly. Hence, an effective SP flooding formula should maintain the viscosity ratio of displacement fluid to crude oil above
2.0. Then the SP system can ensure both satisfied incremental and total oil recovery simultaneously.
Table 3 SP formula systems with different viscosity used in core flooding experiments
Surfactant
PS
PS
PS
PS
PS
Surfactant concentration, %
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
Polymer
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
Polymer concentration, mg/l
1000
1400
1700
2000
2300
Viscosity, mPas
20.1
32.8
41.6
50.9
70.2

PS
0.3
KYPAM
2600
90.7

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80
70

Oil recovery/ %

60
50
Incremental recovery by SP flooding
Total recovery by SP and water flooding

40
30
20
10
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

Viscosity of SP solution/ mPas

Fig.2 Viscosity influence on oil recovery of SP core flooding

Fixing the viscosity of the SP system (around 51 mPas), different types of PS and HABS with co-surfactants were selected
as surfactant to form formula with different IFT levels (from 3.39 to 1.210-3 mN/m, Table 4). The influence of IFT of oil and
formation water on oil recovery of SP flooding was shown in Fig. 3. The results showed that IFT of the system also influence
the displacement efficiency dramatically. The lower the IFT level, the higher the incremental oil recovery and total oil
recovery were. When the IFT level of the SP system was around 510-3mN/m, incremental oil recovery was near the max level.
Compare with high IFT system (3.39mN/m), low IFT SP formula (from 10-1 mN/m to10-3 mN/m range) could displace 24% to
30% oil recovery after water flooding. It meant that the SP flooding system with both low interfacial tension and high
viscosity could recover 7-15% incremental recovery more than that with a solely high viscosity system.
Surfactant
Surfactant concentration, %
Polymer
Polymer concentration, mg/l
IFT, mN/m

Table 4 SP formula with different interfacial tension levels

PS-1
PS-2
PS-3
HABS-1
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
2000
2000
2000
2000
0.0012
0.0056
0.025
0.21

HABS-2
0.3
KYPAM
2000
1.01

HABS-3
0.3
KYPAM
2000
3.39

80
70

Oil recovery/%

60
50

Incremental recovery by SP flooding

Total recovery by SP and water flooding

40
30
20
10
0
1E-3

0.01

0.1

IFT/mNm

1
-1

Fig.3 O/W IFT influence on oil recovery of SP core flooding

The main surfactant agent HABS was combined with other co-surfactants to form SP formula of different emulsification
performance. Emulsification index (Sei) was a parameter which took emulsification ability and emulsification stability into

IPTC 16433

consideration to evaluate the emulsification performance. The greater the emulsification index, the better the emulsification
performance. Table 5 lists the SP formula with different emulsification index. Fig.4 showed the influence of emulsification
degree of SP system on oil recovery of SP flooding. Viscosity ratio of displacement fluid to crude oil was about 1.5. IFT level
was between 10-2 to 10-1 mN/m. The results showed that the emulsification performance of the SP system also influenced oil
recovery of SP flooding greatly. With the increase of emulsification index, the incremental oil recovery and total oil recovery
of SP flooding and water flooding increased in response and kept stable after reaching a certain level. So a value of
emulsification index more than certain value (around 40%) was suitable for improving oil recovery of SP system, and
excessive emulsification wound introduce a side effect on the produced fluid treatment. Comparing with the weak
emulsification SP system, enhanced emulsification performance of SP system could recover about 6-11% incremental oil
recovery further.
Table 5 SP formula with different emulsification index
Surfactant
HABS-4
HABS-5
HABS-6
HABS-7
HABS-8
HABS-9
Surfactant concentration, %
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
Polymer
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
KYPAM
Polymer concentration, mg/l
1700
1700
1700
1700
1700
1700
Sei, %
23.9
27.7
37.8
56.2
74.5
79.2

80
70

Oil recovery/ %

60
50
Incremental recovery by SP flooding
Total recovery by SP and waterflooding

40
30
20
10
10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Emulsification intensity index/ %

Fig.4 Emulsification performance influence on oil recovery of SP core flooding

The silicone oil (SOI) was used to alternate certain cores wettability into middle wet. Likewise, organochlorosilane was
used to change the wettability of other cores into oil wet. In this way, Berea cores with different relative wettability index were
prepared such as oil wet (wettability index was around -0.5), intermediate wet (wettability index was around 0) to water wet
(wettability index was around +0.5). The influence of rock wettability of Berea core on oil recovery of SP flooding was shown
in Fig. 5. Fix the viscosity of the SP system (viscosity ratio of displacement fluid to crude oil was about 1.5). IFT level was
around 510-3mN/m. The results showed that the rock wettability also influenced the oil recovery of SP flooding obviously.
The oil recovery reached the highest level under water wet condition, followed by that under intermediate wet condition. The
incremental oil recovery of SP flooding and total oil recovery were poor under oil wet condition.

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80
70

Oil recovery/ %

60
50
Incremental recovery by SP flooding
Total recovery by SP and waterflooding

40
30
20
10
-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Wettability index

Fig.5 The influence of rock wettability on oil recovery of SP core flooding

4 Conclusions
(1) Favorable viscosity level of SP system is the key factor to guarantee a satisfied incremental oil recovery. When viscosity
ratio of SP displacement fluid to crude oil is greater than 2.0, the SP system can achieve the oil recovery level to the largest
extent.
(2) The lower the interfacial, the higher the incremental oil recovery of SP flooding can be obtained. When the interfacial
tension of oil and water decreases to 510-3mN/m level, near the highest incremental oil recovery of SP flooding can be
obtained. The SP flooding system with both lower interfacial tension and high viscosity can recover 7-15% incremental
recovery more than that with a solely high viscosity SP formula system.
(3) Emulsification performance of SP flooding has a significant impact on the oil recovery of SP flooding. When
emulsification index is appropriate, incremental oil recovery increases with the increase of emulsification index. Comparing
with the weak emulsification SP system with 10-1mN/m IFT level, enhanced emulsification performance of SP system can
recover about 6-11% more incremental oil recovery.
(4) Surface wettability of rock also influence the oil recovery of SP flooding, The highest oil recovery can be obtained under
water wet condition, followed by that under intermediate wet condition. Oil recovery is poor under oil wet condition.
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