Surface tension, dynamic light scattering and rheological studies of a new polymeric surfactant for application in enhanced oil recovery

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2016.07.023Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Various studies were performed on a novel polymeric surfactant.

  • Surface tension reduced with increasing surfactant concentration and salt addition.

  • Hydrodynamic diameter varied due to conformational change of molecules in solution.

  • Solutions behaved ideally at low shear rates, pseudoplasticly at high shear rates.

  • Transition points between elastic and viscous phases of solution were identified.

Abstract

The present paper deals with the synthesis of a new polymeric surfactant (PMES) and characterization of its aqueous solution for application in enhanced oil recovery. The synthesized polymeric surfactant possesses properties of both surfactant and polymer. Surface tension, particle size distribution and rheological properties of the polymeric surfactant have been studied and analyzed under the influence of various factors. IFT was found to decrease with concentration of PMES and salt addition. The reduction of surface tension at optimum salinity is comparable to any commercial surfactant. DLS measurement showed that hydrodynamic particle diameter generally increased with concentration of PMES due to aggregation of molecules and decreased with salt addition due to disaggregation of molecules. Viscosity was found to increase with increase with PMES concentration but decreased with temperature rise and salt addition. Analysis of rheological data showed that polymeric surfactant behaved ideally up to a critical shear rate of 50 s−1 but exhibited shear-thinning or pseudoplastic behavior at higher shear rates. Its viscoelastic properties were studied and showed that storage modulus G′ and loss modulus G″ increased with increasing PMES concentration. Specific frequency (SF) indicated by the crossing point between G′ and G″ on the viscoelastic curve represents the point of transition between elastic and viscous phases of the polymeric surfactant system.

Graphical abstract

Dynamic viscoelasticity curves showing effect of angular frequency on storage and loss moduli for polymeric surfactant solution (with acrylamide-to-sulfonate ratio 1:1) at different concentrations.

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Keywords

Polymeric surfactant
Surface tension
DLS
Viscosity
Viscoelasticity

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