New Surfactant for Chemical Flood in High-Salinity Reservoir

摘要

Evaluation of the chemical flood potential in the Chihuido dela Sierra Negra field, Argentina, has been carried out usingseveral different recovery scenarios. This field has beensubmitted to extensive waterflooding for several years, andsurface facilities have been designed to recycle produced brineas injection brine. The use of produced brine, as chemicalsolution make-up water is therefore very advantageous fromboth an operational and economical point of view. However,the formation brine contains around 110,000 PPM TotalDissolved Solids with around 2,800 PPM divalent cations.This makes the selection of the proper surfactant extremelydifficult. Processes such as Alkali Surfactant PolymerFlooding have been considered, however, the requirement oflarge amounts of fresh water as well as softening units in thefield adversely affects the economics of this process.This paper will discuss the development of a new anionicsurfactant that provides solubility in high salinities and lowinterfacial tension at low concentration. The Chihuido de laSierra Negra field history will be briefly described, and thelaboratory screening and evaluation of the surfactants,including the interfacial tension properties, the adsorption, thecore evaluation, and the performance of the flood will also bediscussed.The significance of this development is that it could lendfeasibility to EOR projects that would be deemeduneconomical because of water treatment and handling costs.