Advances of microemulsion and its applications for improved oil recovery

Tongyu Zhu; Wanli Kang; Hongbin Yang; Zhe Li; Bobo Zhou; Yingqi He; Jiaqi Wang; Saule Aidarova; Bauyrzhan Sarsenbekuly

doi:10.1016/j.cis.2021.102527

Advances of microemulsion and its applications for improved oil recovery

Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2022 Jan:299:102527. doi: 10.1016/j.cis.2021.102527. Epub 2021 Sep 28.

Authors

Tongyu Zhu¹, Wanli Kang², Hongbin Yang¹, Zhe Li¹, Bobo Zhou¹, Yingqi He¹, Jiaqi Wang¹, Saule Aidarova³, Bauyrzhan Sarsenbekuly³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Unconventional Oil & Gas Development, China University of Petroleum (East China), Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266580, PR China; School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Unconventional Oil & Gas Development, China University of Petroleum (East China), Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266580, PR China; School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, PR China. Electronic address: kangwanli@upc.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Unconventional Oil & Gas Development, China University of Petroleum (East China), Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266580, PR China; School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, PR China; Kazakh-British Technical University, Almaty 050000, Kazakhstan.

PMID: 34607652
DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2021.102527

Abstract

Microemulsion, because of its excellent interfacial tension reduction and solubilization properties, has wide range of applications in the petroleum industry, especially in improved oil recovery (IOR). Herein, the concept, types and formation mechanism of microemulsion were primarily introduced. Then, the preparation and characterization methods were illustrated. Additionally, several effect factors were elaborated specifically based on the composition of microemulsion. Finally, the application of microemulsion in IOR was addressed, including IOR mechanism analysis based on sweep efficiency and displacement efficiency, injection method (microemulsion flooding, in-situ microemulsion formation) and field tests. Furthermore, the current challenges and prospects of microemulsion on IOR were analyzed.

Keywords: Field tests; Improved oil recovery (IOR); Influence factors; Microemulsion.

Publication types

Review