STUDY OF SURFACTANTS FOR ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY: DETERMINATION OF INTERFACIAL TENSION AND PHASE BEHAVIOUR OF SELECTED SURFACTANTS

The depletion of natural oil resources raises a major challenge to major oil producers in the perseverance of the global economy, in spite of increasing resource consumption and geo-political instability. In order to compensate the challenges faced, there is a need to improve the current oil production techniques and intensify oil production capability. Applications of engineering and technology are crucial in order to make the attempts possible, and the development of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques is one of study of interest to increase the current oil production efficiency. Chemical EOR is a derivative of the EOR methods and this technique is considered successful as it applies the usage of surfactants in lowering the interfacial tension of the oil and the rock, thus boosts oil production capability. Ergo, physical-chemical properties are the area of interest that is investigated, and extensive experimental works would be the main medium of this study. The properties that are being documented are the determination of the interfacial tension and study of phase behavior of the surfactants that are commonly used in the petroleum industry. The experimental works are carried out in Petronas Research and Scientific Studies (PRSS), located in Bangi. Spinning drop method is the method used in determination of the interfacial tension, in collaboration with the given equations and correlations. Critical Micelle Concentration is also determined by plotting the surfactantinterfacial tension curve. As for the determination of phase behavior, the method is carried out by simulating the surfactant samples in reservoir temperatures in a specialized oven and it is left by a specified time. The results are collected from respective experiments and analyzed in accordance and viability to the theory. In overall, experimental works verified the reduction ofthe interfacial tension and yield desirable phase behavior results. However, there is a need to improve the experimental works and also the fundamental background specifically the physical chemistry mechanics (interfacial tension and phase behavior theory) for the interest of academic research and study