Improved Oil Recovery by Surfactant and Polymer Flooding contains papers presented at the 1976 AIChE Symposium on Improved Oil Recovery by Surfactant and Polymer Flooding held in Kansas City. Organized into 18 chapters, the book includes papers that introduce petroleum reservoirs and discuss interfacial tension; molecular forces; molecular aspects of ultralow interfacial tension; the structure, formation, and phase inversion of microemulsions; and thermodynamics of micellization and related phenomena. Papers on adsorption phenomena at solid/liquid interfaces and reservoir rocks, as well as on flow through porous media studies on polymer solutions, microemulsions, and soluble oils are also provided. Significant topics on molecular, microscopic, and macroscopic aspects of oil displacement in porous media by surfactant and polymer solutions and related phenomena are also discussed. The literature cited in this book forms a comprehensive list of references in relation to improved oil recovery by surfactant and polymer flooding. This book will be useful to experts and non-experts in this field of research.

The importance of oil in the world economy cannot be overstated, and methods for recovering oil will be the subject of much scientific and engineering research for many years to come. Even after the application of primary depletion and secondary recovery processes (usually waterflooding), much oil usually remains in a reservoir, and indeed in some heterogeneous reservoir systems as much as 70% of the original oil may remain. Thus, there is an enormous incentive for the development of improved or enhanced methods of oil recovery, aimed at recovering some portion of this remainil)g oil. The techniques used range from 'improved' secondary flooding methods (including polymer and certain gas injection processes) through to 'enhanced' or 'tertiary' methods such as chemical (surfactant, caustic, foam), gas miscible (carbon dioxide, gas reinjection) and thermal (steam soak and drive, in-situ combustion). The distinction between the classification ofthe methods usually refers to the target oil that the process seeks to recover. That is, in 'improved' recovery we are usually aiming to increase the oil sweep efficiency, whereas in 'tertiary' recovery we aim to mobilise and recover residual or capillary trapped oil. There are a few books and collections of articles which give general overviews of improved and enhanced oil recovery methods. However, for each recovery method, there is such a wide range of interconnected issues concerning the chemistry, physics and fluid mechanics of flow in porous media, that rarely are these adequately reviewed.

This book aims at presenting, describing, and summarizing the latest advances in polymer flooding regarding the chemical synthesis of the EOR agents and the numerical simulation of compositional models in porous media, including a description of the possible applications of nanotechnology acting as a booster of traditional chemical EOR processes. A large part of the world economy depends nowadays on non-renewable energy sources, most of them of fossil origin. Though the search for and the development of newer, greener, and more sustainable sources have been going on for the last decades, humanity is still fossil-fuel dependent. Primary and secondary oil recovery techniques merely produce up to a half of the Original Oil In Place. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) processes are aimed at further increasing this value. Among these, chemical EOR techniques (including polymer flooding) present a great potential in low- and medium-viscosity oilfields. • Describes recent advances in chemical enhanced oil recovery. • Contains detailed description of polymer flooding and nanotechnology as promising boosting tools for EOR. • Includes both experimental and theoretical studies. About the Authors Patrizio Raffa is Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen. He focuses on design and synthesis of new polymeric materials optimized for industrial applications such as EOR, coatings and smart materials. He (co)authored about 40 articles in peer reviewed journals. Pablo Druetta works as lecturer at the University of Groningen (RUG) and as engineering consultant. He received his Ph.D. from RUG in 2018 and has been teaching at a graduate level for 15 years. His research focus lies on computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Polymeric Surfactants covers the structure and stability origins of these highly useful surfactants. Adsorption and solution properties in emulsions are discussed based on their underlying thermodynamics and kinetics. Research scientists and Ph.D. students investigating chemistry, chemical engineering and colloidal science will benefit from this text on polymeric surfactants and their value in preparation and stabilization of disperse systems.

Crude oil development and production in U.S. oil reservoirs can include up to three distinct phases: primary, secondary, and tertiary (or enhanced) recovery. During primary recovery, the natural pressure of the reservoir or gravity drive oil into the wellbore, combined with artificial lift techniques (such as pumps) which bring the oil to the surface. But only about 10 percent of a reservoir's original oil in place is typically produced during primary recovery. Secondary recovery techniques to the field's productive life generally by injecting water or gas to displace oil and drive it to a production wellbore, resulting in the recovery of 20 to 40 percent of the original oil in place. In the past two decades, major oil companies and research organizations have conducted extensive theoretical and laboratory EOR (enhanced oil recovery) researches, to include validating pilot and field trials relevant to much needed domestic commercial application, while western countries had terminated such endeavours almost completely due to low oil prices. In recent years, oil demand has soared and now these operations have become more desirable. This book is about the recent developments in the area as well as the technology for enhancing oil recovery. The book provides important case studies related to over one hundred EOR pilot and field applications in a variety of oil fields. These case studies focus on practical problems, underlying theoretical and modelling methods, operational parameters (e.g., injected chemical concentration, slug sizes, flooding schemes and well spacing), solutions and sensitivity studies, and performance optimization strategies. The book strikes an ideal balance between theory and practice, and would be invaluable to academicians and oil company practitioners alike. - Updated chemical EOR fundamentals providing clear picture of fundamental concepts - Practical cases with problems and solutions providing practical analogues and experiences - Actual data regarding ranges of operation parameters providing initial design parameters - Step-by-step calculation examples providing practical engineers with convenient procedures

Enhanced Oil Recovery Field Case Studies bridges the gap between theory and practice in a range of real-world EOR settings. Areas covered include steam and polymer flooding, use of foam, in situ combustion, microorganisms, "smart water"-based EOR in carbonates and sandstones, and many more. Oil industry professionals know that the key to a successful enhanced oil recovery project lies in anticipating the differences between plans and the realities found in the field. This book aids that effort, providing valuable case studies from more than 250 EOR pilot and field applications in a variety of oil fields. The case studies cover practical problems, underlying theoretical and modeling methods, operational parameters, solutions and sensitivity studies, and performance optimization strategies, benefitting academicians and oil company practitioners alike. - Strikes an ideal balance between theory and practice - Focuses on practical problems, underlying theoretical and modeling methods, and operational parameters - Designed for technical professionals, covering the fundamental as well as the advanced aspects of EOR

Sustainable world economy requires a steady supply of crude oil without any production constraints. Thus, the ever-increasing energy demand of the entire world can be mostly met through the enhanced production from crude oil from existing reservoirs. With the fact that newer reservoirs with large quantities of crude oil could not be explored at a faster pace, it will be inevitable to produce the crude oil from matured reservoirs at an affordable cost. Among alternate technologies, the chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique has promising potential to recover residual oil from matured reservoirs being subjected to primary and secondary water flooding operations. Due to pertinent complex phenomena that often have a combinatorial role and influence, the implementation of chemical EOR schemes such as alkali/surfactant/polymer flooding and their combinations necessitates upon a fundamental understanding of the potential mechanisms and their influences upon one another and desired response variables. Addressing these issues, the book attempts to provide useful screening criteria, guidelines, and rules of thumb for the identification of process parametric sets (including reservoir characteristics) and response characteristics (such as IFT, adsorption etc.,) that favor alternate chemical EOR systems. Finally, the book highlights the relevance of nanofluid/nanoparticle for conventional and unconventional reservoirs and serves as a needful resource to understand the emerging oil recovery technology. Overall, the volume will be of greater relevance for practicing engineers and consultants that wish to accelerate on field applications of chemical and nano-fluid EOR systems. Further, to those budding engineers that wish to improvise upon their technical know-how, the book will serve as a much-needed repository.