Polyetheramine as an alternative alkali for alkali/surfactant/polymer flooding

The application of conventional alkalis (NaOH or Na2CO3) in alkali/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding is rather limited due to their intrinsic drawbacks, including precipitating during injection into formation water with a high divalent ion concentration and enhancing the dispersibility of clays (e.g., montmorillonite (MMT) or kaolinite) in water, which lead to damage to reservoir formations and bring about difficulties in treating produced fluids. Here, we propose polyetheramine D 230 as an alternative alkali to avoid these problems. D 230 is a diamine linked by poly(oxypropylene) backbones. Interfacial tension and emulsification measurements proved that D 230 can neutralize the acidic components in crude oil to generate surface-active soaps, which facilitate oil emulsification in water. Contact angle measurements indicated that an oil-contaminated quartz surface treated with D 230/SP blends was successfully altered from oil-wet to water-wet. Sand pack flooding measurements demonstrated that a D 230/SP injection was able to mobilize 19.23% of the original oil in place (OOIP) after thorough water flooding. Rheograms of alkali/polymer blends showed a reduced impact of D 230 on viscosity. Static bottle tests indicated that no precipitation occurred after D 230 was injected into formation water with a high Ca2+ concentration. Colloidal stability measurements of clay dispersions suggested that D 230 can inhibit clay dispersibility. As an alternative alkali in ASP flooding, D 230 not only facilitates enhanced oil recovery (EOR) but also solves problems such as precipitation, high biotoxicity, reduced fluid viscosity and enhanced clay dispersibility brought about by conventional inorganic and organic alkalis. These advantages make D 230 an eco-friendly choice as an alkali for ASP flooding.