Article: Performance of an anti-scaling alkali-surfactant-polymer flooding system for heavy oil Journal: International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT) 2023 Vol.33 No.2 pp.170 - 187 Abstract: Alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding is one of the most effective methods for enhancing heavy oil recovery. However, for heavy oil reservoirs with high content of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions in the formation water, the scaling in ASP flooding affects the injection and displacing effect. In this study, a scale inhibitor containing polyaspartic acid sodium (PASP) and polyamino polyether methylene phosphonate (PAPEMP) were simultaneously applied with alkanolamide to form a scale-resistant and friendly environmental ASP flooding system, whose optimised composition is 1% NaCO3, 0.2% alkanolamide (type '1:2'), 0.15% partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide (molecular weight of 8 × 106 g/mol) 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS), 0.025% scale inhibitor. This system has a better anti-scaling effect. The interfacial tension (IFT) test shows that the IFT of the ASP system and W8 crude oil can reduce to the order of 10-3mN.m-1 within 2 min, forming a relatively stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. The addition of SDS can improve the solubility of alkanolamide, with a uniform and transparent solution. Furthermore, core flooding results showed that the oil recovery rate of the ASP flooding increased by 20%, exhibiting an obvious flooding effect, mainly due to the swept efficiency and displacement efficiency. [Received: May 19, 2022; Accepted: January 24, 2023] Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Performance of an anti-scaling alkali-surfactant-polymer flooding system for heavy oil

Authors: Fulin Yang

Addresses: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Materials and Safety Technology, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi535011, China; College of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, Guangxi 535011, China

Abstract: Alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding is one of the most effective methods for enhancing heavy oil recovery. However, for heavy oil reservoirs with high content of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions in the formation water, the scaling in ASP flooding affects the injection and displacing effect. In this study, a scale inhibitor containing polyaspartic acid sodium (PASP) and polyamino polyether methylene phosphonate (PAPEMP) were simultaneously applied with alkanolamide to form a scale-resistant and friendly environmental ASP flooding system, whose optimised composition is 1% NaCO₃, 0.2% alkanolamide (type '1:2'), 0.15% partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide (molecular weight of 8 × 10⁶ g/mol) 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS), 0.025% scale inhibitor. This system has a better anti-scaling effect. The interfacial tension (IFT) test shows that the IFT of the ASP system and W8 crude oil can reduce to the order of 10^-3mN.m^-1 within 2 min, forming a relatively stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. The addition of SDS can improve the solubility of alkanolamide, with a uniform and transparent solution. Furthermore, core flooding results showed that the oil recovery rate of the ASP flooding increased by 20%, exhibiting an obvious flooding effect, mainly due to the swept efficiency and displacement efficiency. [Received: May 19, 2022; Accepted: January 24, 2023]

Keywords: ASP flooding system; anti-scaling; heavy oil; alkaline flooding system.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2023.130996

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2023 Vol.33 No.2, pp.170 - 187

Received: 18 May 2022
Accepted: 24 Jan 2023
Published online: 17 May 2023 *

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Title: Performance of an anti-scaling alkali-surfactant-polymer flooding system for heavy oil

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