An anionic surfactant for EOR applications

This work is to investigate the new anionic surfactants for the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) application. Sulfonated anionic surfactant was produced by attaching SO3 to an ethoxylated alcohol to increase the performance of the surfactant. Methallyl chloride and ethoxylated alcohol was reacted followed by the reaction with sodium bisulfite to produce anionic sulfonated surfactant in 80.3 % yield. The sulfonation reaction parameters such as reactants mole ratio, reaction temperature and catalyst amount were optimized. The generation and stability of foam from the synthesized surfactant is also tested and results are reported. The synthesized novel surfactant was further investigated for the effect on the CO2 mobility in porous media and the findings are presented here. This in house developed surfactant has a great potential for CO2- EOR applications.