Since there are not many studies on the application of polymeric surfactants in viscosity reduction emulsification of heavy oil, a series of polyether carboxylic acid-sulfonate polymeric surfactants were synthesized. The viscosity reduction performance and the effect of different chain lengths on the viscosity reduction effect were also investigated. The viscosity reduction, emulsification, wetting, and foaming performance tests showed that the viscosity reduction performance of this series of polymeric surfactants was excellent, with the viscosity reduction rate exceeding 95%, and the viscosity was reduced to 97 mPa·s by the polymeric surfactant with a molecular weight of 600 polyethers. It was also concluded that among the three surfactants with different side chains, the polymeric surfactant with a polyether molecular weight of 600, which is the medium side-chain length, had the best viscosity reduction performance. The study showed that the polyether carboxylic acid-sulfonate polymer surfactant had a promising application in the viscosity reduction of heavy oil.
Keywords: heavy oil; polyether-type polycarboxylic acid; viscosity reducer; viscosity reduction.