OVERVIEW OF CHEMICAL ENHANCED OIL

RECOVERY – CEOR
Bachelors in Chemistry
Submitted To: Prof.Umair Akram

Submitted By:
Laiba Ramzan KFCACHEM201101008
Nabila Ramzan KFCACHEM201101011
Mubashrah Naseem KFCACHEM201101016
Zainab KFCACHEM201101052
 Contents
1.Introduction To CEOR
2.Polymer Flooding
3.Surfactant Flooding
4.Alkali Flooding
5.Foam Flooding
6.Nanoparticles and EOR
Introduction to CEOR:
● Oil is a fossil fuel that is mostly made of biological
materials.
● In current period of energy production,reserves of
oil and gas are world main sources of energy.
● Some of the oil get trapped in porous media called
reservoirs.
● Oil refinery is done by chemical enhanced oil
recovery.
● Chemical EOR is widely used because of its higher
efficiency and reasonable capital cost.
● Chemical enhanced oil recovery is used to increase
the recovery of oil by increasing the effectiveness
of water injected into the reservoir to displace the
oil.
● In this method chemicals are injected to lower the
interfacial tension between fluid and oil for
The well known traditional methods of CEOR are polymer
flooding,surfactant flooding,alkali flooding,foam flooding
and nanofluids.
 Contents
1.Introduction To CEOR
2.Polymer Flooding
3.Surfactant Flooding
4.Alkali Flooding
5.Foam Flooding
6.Nanoparticles and EOR
 POLYMER FLOODING
Polymer flooding is an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique that improves the sweep
efficiency of the injected water by increasing its viscosity.

● 1. Origin of polymer flooding:

● In the ELIASVILLE CADDO department,polymer flooding in limestone was first noted
● Since 1996,yabin has recorded polymer flooding in the daqing oil refinery in china
observing a 12% increase in oil recovery over water flooding.
● 2. Mechanism:
● Viscosity increase
● Mobility control.
● Disproportionate permeability
reduction
● 3. Types of polymer :
● Synthetic polymers (HPAM)
● Biopolymers(Xantham gum)
● 4. Degradation of polymers :
● Mechanical degradation
● Thermal degradation
● Biological degradation
● Chemical degradation
● Benefits of polymer flooding:
● Cost effective
● Sweep efficiency
● Increased oil production
● Challenges of polymer flooding:
● Operational issues
● Degradation
● Reservoirs condition
 Contents
1.Introduction To CEOR
2.Polymer Flooding
3.Surfactant Flooding
4.Alkali Flooding
5.Foam Flooding
6.Nanoparticles and EOR
What is surfactant ?

*Surfactants, short for surface-active agents, are compounds that lower the surface tension
between two substances, typically between a liquid and a solid or between two liquids.*

● surfactants, are typically organic molecules with a hydrophilic head(water-attracting) and a

hydrophobic tail(water-repelling).

● Surfactants can be classified into different types based on their charge properties:

1-Anionic surfactants:
2-Cationic surfactants:
3-Nonionic surfactants:
4-Amphoteric (or zwitterionic) surfactants:
Surfactant Flooding

Surfactant flooding is a enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique used to extract more oil from a
reservoir. It involves injecting a surfactant solution into the reservoir to reduce the interfacial tension
between oil and water, making it easier to mobilize and extract the oil.

Mechanism of Surfactant Flooding

surfactant flooding in EOR involves the several mechanisms are as follow

1:- Reducing the IFT:

surfactants can reduce the IFT between oil and water. it facilitates the dettachement of oil from the rock
surface and increase the mobility of oil in the reservoir, allowing it to flow more easily towards the wellbore.

2:- Emulsification mechanism:

One significant mechanism in chemical EOR using surfactants is emulsification of the oil phase. By decreasing the
oil's viscosity and changing the rock's wettability, the surfactant forms an emulsion that improves the mobility ratio of
oil that can be more easily extracted.
3-Wettability mechanism:

The wettability mechanism of surfactants in CEOR involves the alteration of the wetting properties of the rock
surface from oil-wet to water-wet. The altered wetting properties enable water to mobilize oil more efficiently,
reducing the capillary forces that trap oil in the rock, allowing for more oil to be extracted.

Applications of surfactant:-

Surfactants are widely used in various applications beyond just CEOR,

including detergents, emulsifiers, and in industries such as
pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and personal care products. Their ability to
modify surface and interfacial properties makes them versatile in different
fields.
 Contents
1.Introduction To CEOR
2.Polymer Flooding
3.Surfactant Flooding
4.Alkali Flooding
5.Foam Flooding
6.Nanoparticles and EOR
Define:

Alkali flooding is an EOR technique that utilize an alkali (a basic compound,ionic

salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal) to improve oil recovery factor.

Purpose of alkali flooding:

● Reduce interfacial tension

Mechanism of alkali flooding:

● Chemical reactions
● Emulsification
● Wettability mechanism
Most commonly used alkali are:
● Sodium Metaborate
● Sodium Carbonate
● Sodium Hydroxide
● Sodium Bicarbonate
Binary combinations:
Binary combinations of conventional chemical
EOR are given as

Alkali surfactant(AS) flooding

Alkali polymer(AP) flooding
Surfactant polymer(SP) flooding
 Contents
1.Introduction To CEOR
2.Polymer Flooding
3.Surfactant Flooding
4.Alkali Flooding
5.Foam
5.Foam Flooding
Flooding
6.Nanoparticles and EOR
● Foam is a colloidal system – a gas dispersed in a
liquid whereas liquid phase is continuous and
external,the gas phase is discontinuous and
internal.
● Foams enhance well production and maximize
reservoir stimulation during acidizing
operations.
● There are two categories into which foam
generation process can be extracted.
● First category includes shaking and pouring to
extract air bubbles from atmosphere
● Second category includes chemical
reactions,nucleation and electrolysis to produce
artificial gas bubbles
Classification of foams :
● Wet foams
● Dry foams
Role of surfactants in foam stability :
● Cationic
● Anionic
● Non-ionic
● Zwitter-ionic
Foaming volume:
● Half life of foam
● Composite index of foam FCI
FCI =0.75h max t ½(Chengli et al..2019).
 Contents
1.Introduction To CEOR
2.Polymer Flooding
3.Surfactant Flooding
4.Alkali Flooding
5.Foam Flooding
6.Nanoparticles
6.Nano-particlesand
andEOR
EOR
 Nano-Particles and EOR
1.Metal oxides nanoparticles
● Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) NP
● Copper(II) oxide, CuO NP
● Iron oxide, (Fe2O3/Fe3O4) NP
● Nickel oxide (Ni2O3) NP
● Magnesium oxide (MgO) NP
● Tin oxide (SnO2) NP
● TiO2 NP

2.Magnetic nanoparticles
● Cobalt ferrite NP

3:Organic nanoparticles
● Carbon NP
● Carbon nanotubes (CNT) NP

4:Inorganic nanoparticles
Silica containing nanoparticles
● SiO2 NP
● Alumina coated silica NP
 ● Spherical fumed silica NP
● Silicon oxide treated with silane NP
● Polysilicon nanoparticle (PSNP)
●
Non-silica nanoparticles
● Nano-structured zeolite
● Nano sensors

5:Polymer NP
● Polymer coated NP
● Polyacrylamide Micro-gel nano-spheres
Parameters affecting nanoparticles EOR

● Size of nanoparticles
● Concentration of Nanoparticles
● Brine Salinity
● Temperature
● Wetting State
● Solution PH
● Rock Surface Charge
Mechanism through which NPs promote EOR:
● Reduction of the interfacial tension
● Increment in Viscosity
● Alteration of the disjoining pressure
● Wettability Reduction
● In situ formation of Pickering Emulsion

Challenges of NP application in EOR

1: Six main factors—gravity, intermolecular interactions,
surface tension and disjoining pressure—determines how well
NPs function in a reservoir setting.
2:Adsorption, desorption, transport, and obstruction.
3:The eco-nomical issue.
ANY QUESTIONS
?