Abstract
For the first time, the present work assesses the feasibility of using Korean red ginseng root extract, a non-ionic surfactant, for the purposes of enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The surfactant is characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis. Pendant drop and sessile drop techniques are employed to study the oil–water interfacial tension (IFT) and wettability nature of the sandstone rock, respectively. In addition, oil recovery enhancement is investigated using micromodel and core floods. In the salt-free system, IFT measurements indicate that the surfactant carries a critical micelle concentration of 5 g/L. In a saline medium (up to 50 g/L), the addition of a surfactant with different concentrations leads to an IFT reduction of 47.28–84.21%. In a constant surfactant concentration, a contact angle reduction is observed in the range of 5.61–9.30°, depending on salinity rate, revealing a wettability alteration toward more water-wet. Surfactant flooding in the glass micromodel provides a more uniform sweeping, which leads to an oil recovery enhancement of 3.02–11.19%, depending on the extent of salinity. An optimal salt concentration equal to 30 g/L can be recognized according to the results of previous tests. Surfactant flooding (10 g/L) in optimal salt concentration achieves an additional oil recovery of 7.52% after conventional water flooding.
Highlights
The primary phase of oil recovery/production refers to the process that naturally brings oil to the surface
With the help of surfactants, the oil recovery is enhanced by lowering the oil–water interfacial tension (IFT), the spontaneous emulsification and micro-emulsification of the trapped oil, the decrease in the interfacial rheological parameters at the oil–water interface, and the wettability alterations in the reservoir rock [15,16]
The volume of produced oil at different pore volumes is recorded versus time, and the oil recovery factor is determined as a percentage of original oil in place (OOIP)
Summary
The primary phase of oil recovery/production refers to the process that naturally brings oil to the surface. Referring to Equation (1), the magnitude of the capillary number can be increased either by lowering the IFT or by changing the contact angle/altering the wettability of the reservoir rock [21] These two goals can be achieved by using appropriate surfactants. Our plan is to assess the potential of Korean red ginseng root extract, denoted as a “surfactant” throughout the manuscript, in terms of oil–water IFT reduction, wettability alteration, and oil recovery. To achieve this objective, the pendant drop method is employed to measure oil–water IFT. In this study, using micromodel floods provides the possibility of observing microscopic sweeping behavior in the surfactant solution which, in turn, confirms the displacement efficiency obtained from core flooding experiments
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