Chapter 10 - Alkaline Flooding

Abstract

This chapter focuses on alkaline flooding method of chemical oil recovery, and discusses the simulation of alkaline flooding, which is probably the most complex task in modeling chemical processes. The alkaline flooding method relies on a chemical reaction between chemicals such as sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide and organic acids (saponifiable components) in crude oil to produce in situ surfactants (soaps) that can lower interfacial tension. Another very important mechanism is emulsification. The addition of the alkali increases pH and lowers the surfactant adsorption so that very low surfactant concentrations can be used to reduce cost. A comparison of different alkalis used in alkaline flooding and their application advantages and disadvantages are discussed in the chapter. Furthermore, a surveillance and monitoring program and the application conditions of alkaline flooding are studied.