The effect of fir wood SLS surfactant concentration on the characteristics of light crude oil

Abstract

As time progresses, oil production will gradually depletes considering limited oil reserves. This is why, an advanced stage method known as tertiary oil recovery is required. One of these methods is known as Enhanced Oil Recovery method. In this laboratory study, one specific surfactant fluid was used, namely Fir wood sodium lignosulfonate (SLS) with varying concentrations of 0.50; 1.00; 1.50; 2.00; 2.50; and 3.00% each crude oil 39 ° API. This study aims to witness the stability of SLS surfactant fluid in chemical injection. SLS surfactant injection is carried out to increase oil production in the reservoir. In this study, there are various stages in order to test the characteristics of the SLS surfactant, so it can be declared as effective in oil sweeping, namely phase behaviour test, density testing, phase behaviour test, interfacial tension test, and adsorption test. Density test is carried out to determine the density of a fluid. Phase behaviour test is intended to see the stability of emulsion obtained from the utilization of SLS surfactant. The main objective of surfactant utilization is to reduce interfacial tension which leads to IFT test. The IFT (interfacial tension) results of the SLS surfactant fluid are determined from the results of the stable phase behaviour test which evidently shows the critical micelle concentration (CMC) point, so it can properly reduce the interfacial tension of oil and formation water in the reservoir. Interfacial tension test was carried out to determine the interfacial tension between SLS surfactant and oil. Adsorption test is carried out to witness the level of fluid adsorption onto the rock surface. On static adsorption test, the result showed for 2 % surfactant concentration is 9.526 mg/gr. Dynamic adsorption test was conducted on the same concentration show results of respectively 1.865 mg/gr.