Abstract
One of the methods to increase the oil recovery is by signifcantly increase the capillary number. This can be achieved by reducing the interfacial tension (IFT) between the oil and the water in the reservoir to an ultra-low value. There are many studies conducted that proved the ability of Winsor Type-III microemulsion to reduce the IFT to an ultra-low value. Winsor Type-III microemulsion can be created by mixing surfactant, cosurfactant or cosolvent, brine, and oil. However, there has not been any research related to microemulsion creation conducted on alpha olefn sulfonate, AOS and alkyl polyglucoside, and, APG surfactant mixture. Commonly, alcohol as a cosolvent will be added to the surfactant system to enhance the surfactant ability in creating Winsor Type-III microemulsion, but in this project, alcohol will be replaced with an environmental friendly nonionic surfactant, lauryl glucoside. In this project, the phase behavior study of a novel ‘green’ surfactant mixture was conducted to evaluate the potential of the surfactant in creating Winsor-Type III microemulsion and determine the optimum formulations to create a stable Winsor Type-III microemulsion. The phase behavior studies were conducted in three stages which are the optimization of salinity, surfactant concentration, and cosurfactant concentration. Phase diagrams were constructed to properly analyze the phase behavior of the components in a wide range of decane volumes. From the phase behavior studies conducted, it can be concluded that the optimum formulation is 3 wt% salinity, 1 wt% AOS, and 3 wt% lauryl glucoside. Lauryl glucoside addition in the mixture could alter the HLB value of the surfactant mixture hence increasing its potential in creating Winsor Type-III microemulsion.
 Keywords: Enhanced Oil Recovery, surfactant, alkyl polyglucoside
Published Version
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