Application of amphiphilic block-polymer system for emulsion flooding
Elchin F. Veliyev
Abstract
The paper presents the developed composition of an amphiphilic block polymer that forms a stable emulsion system. The presented block polymer composition also possesses reversible-thermal gel-forming properties, which allows to consider it as an effective working agent on deep fluid diversion purposes. Amphiphilic polymer systems traditionally used in the oil industry are not very stable in high-salinity environments. For this purpose, a block polymer formulation was developed which eliminates this disadvantage. This work presents the results of the research on the effect of the block polymer on the surface tension values in saline environments. The main results of the presented work are as follows: emulsion stability increases with concentration increase of block polymer used as emulsifier; determination of the critical concentration of aggregation above which a transition from macro to micro emulsions occurs; and increase of oil recovery by 37 % with injection of 0.25 pore volume emulsion slug. Keywords: oil recovery factor; emulsion flooding; block-polymer; critical aggregation concentration.