Phase behavior of supercritical CO2 + nonionic ethoxylated surfactants + methanol: Experimental data and modeling with PC-SAFT equation of state

Abstract

The use of surfactants for oil and gas purposes has been explored and extensively applied. However, such systems' thermodynamic and predictability behavior still needs further investigation. This work aims to describe the phase behavior of the systems composed of nonionic ethoxylated surfactants (nonylphenyl ethoxylated surfactants—IGEPAL CO-630 and CO-720) + carbon dioxide (CO2) with additional methanol in wide ranges of temperature (T = 313 to 413 K), pressure (P = 0.8 to 54.8 MPa), and CO2 molar compositions (up to 90.0 %). It was observed for all systems studied that CO2 solubility was inversely proportional to temperature and the number of ethoxylated units for pure surfactants. The addition of methanol greatly increases the overall CO2 solubility. The thermodynamic modeling through the PC-SAFT equation of state was also evaluated. Bubble pressure deviations of 13.63 % and 13.49 % were obtained for pure IGEPAL CO-630 and IGEPAL CO-720 + CO2, respectively, and 12.63 % for the ternary system (IGEPAL CO-720 + methanol + CO2). A new set of binary interaction parameters was also provided for IGEPAL CO-630 and IGEPAL CO-720 + CO2.