Interfacial Viscoelasticity in Crude Oil-Water Systems to UnderstandIncremental Oil Recovery

摘要

Improved oil recovery from asphaltenic oil reservoirs may provide the world with a significant sourceof lower-cost energy over many decades.However,the mechanisms through which the surface-activecomponents in crude oil,such as asphaltenes and organic acids,affect incremental oil production are stillunclear.In this study,we investigate crude oil/water interfacial films using shear and dilational rheologyfor mechanical properties and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR)to better understand itsmolecular species present at the interface that contribute to the development of viscoelastic behaviors.Dilational rheology has proven to be more sensitive to early time development of elasticity.In contrast,shearrheology provided more insights regarding the formation of elastic films at the macroscopic scale and latetime interfacial changes.The presence of salts such as sodium chloride in the aqueous phase played a criticalrole in altering the dynamics of both the rheological properties development and the interfacial tension.