Synthesis of Petroleum Sulfonate Surfactant by Different Sulfonating Agent with Application of HIGEE Technology

Abstract

With the application of HIGEE process intensification technology, petroleum sulfonate surfactant used for enhanced oil recovery was synthesized from petroleum fraction of Shengli crude oil with three sulfonating agents, including diluted liquid sulfur trioxide, diluted gaseous sulfur trioxide and fuming sulfuric acid. For each sulfonating agent, different operation modes (liquid-liquid or gas-liquid reaction with semi-continuous or continuous operation) were applied. The effects of various experimental conditions, such as solvent/oil mass ratio, sulfonating agent/oil mass ratio, gas/liquid ratio, gas concentration, reaction temperature, rotating speed, circulation ratio, reaction time and aging time, on the content of active matter and unsulfonated oil were investigated. Under relatively optimal reaction conditions, the target product was prepared with high mass content of active matter (up to 45.3%) and extremely low oil/water interfacial tension (4.5×10 −3 mN·m −1). The product quality and process efficiency are higher compared with traditional sulfonation technology.