Investigation of a highly efficient foaming mixture compromising cationic Gemini-zwitterionic-anionic surfactants for gas well deliquification
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Weiwei Han
Weiwei Han received her BS in Pharmaceutical Engineering from Chongqing University in 2009. She received her PhD in organic chemistry from Zhejiang University in 2014. She is currently a professor at Xi’an Shiyou University. Her current research focuses on novel surfactants for enhanced oil recovery and foam-assisted fluid unloading for natural gas wells.
Hongmiao Lv received her BS in Environmental Engineering from Xi’an Shiyou University in 2022. She stayed in the same institution and is currently a postgraduate student supervised by Prof. Weiwei Han. Her main research interest is to study the foaming mechanism of surfactants.
Jiabao Fan received his BS in chemical engineering from Xi’an Shiyou University in 2021 and then worked as a PhD student in the laboratory of Prof Weiwei Han. His main research interest is the preparation of foaming surfactant mixtures for gas well stimulation.
Yue Ji received her BS in Chemical Engineering from Northwest University (China) in 2012. She received her PhD in Organic Chemistry from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017. She is currently a lecturer at Xi’an Shiyou University. Her current focus is on novel chemicals for enhanced oil recovery.
Sanbao Dong received his Ph.D. in oil and gas field development engineering from China University of Petroleum (East China) in 2018. During his PhD studies, he visited Stanford University and Reservoir Engineering Research Institute in California for academic exchange, with surfactants in oil and gas flow assurance as his main research direction. He then moved to Xi’an Shiyou University to research the development of foaming surfactant mixtures based on supramolecular interactions.
Abstract
Foamers with high resistance to condensate, salinity and high temperature play a crucial role in gas well deliquification. In this study, we developed an efficient foaming mixture containing a Gemini surfactant (CAGB), a betaine surfactant (CAPB) and sodium lauroyl glutamate (SLG), which exhibited excellent foaming performance (at a molar ratio of 3:3:4 and a dosage of 20 mmol L−1) with a foam volume of 440 mL and a half-life of 11 min. The optimized CAGB/CAPB/SLG mixture showed exceptional liquid unloading and foaming ability under high methanol (up to 40 vol.%) and condensate (up to 50 vol.%) content conditions. Trisodium aminotriacetate (NTA) facilitated the liquid unloading performance at a salinity of 90 g L−1. With 10 vol.% methanol, the liquid unloading rate of CAGB/CAPB/SLG foam at 90 °C could be increased to 90 %. Furthermore, surface tension and morphology analysis confirmed the presence of synergy within the CAGB/CAPB/SLG mixture in foaming, foam stabilizing and liquid unloading ability.
Funding source: National Natural Science Foundation of China
Award Identifier / Grant number: No. 22005242
Award Identifier / Grant number: No. 52204046
Funding source: Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province
Award Identifier / Grant number: No. 2023-JC-QN-0128
About the authors
Weiwei Han received her BS in Pharmaceutical Engineering from Chongqing University in 2009. She received her PhD in organic chemistry from Zhejiang University in 2014. She is currently a professor at Xi’an Shiyou University. Her current research focuses on novel surfactants for enhanced oil recovery and foam-assisted fluid unloading for natural gas wells.
Hongmiao Lv received her BS in Environmental Engineering from Xi’an Shiyou University in 2022. She stayed in the same institution and is currently a postgraduate student supervised by Prof. Weiwei Han. Her main research interest is to study the foaming mechanism of surfactants.
Jiabao Fan received his BS in chemical engineering from Xi’an Shiyou University in 2021 and then worked as a PhD student in the laboratory of Prof Weiwei Han. His main research interest is the preparation of foaming surfactant mixtures for gas well stimulation.
Yue Ji received her BS in Chemical Engineering from Northwest University (China) in 2012. She received her PhD in Organic Chemistry from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017. She is currently a lecturer at Xi’an Shiyou University. Her current focus is on novel chemicals for enhanced oil recovery.
Sanbao Dong received his Ph.D. in oil and gas field development engineering from China University of Petroleum (East China) in 2018. During his PhD studies, he visited Stanford University and Reservoir Engineering Research Institute in California for academic exchange, with surfactants in oil and gas flow assurance as his main research direction. He then moved to Xi’an Shiyou University to research the development of foaming surfactant mixtures based on supramolecular interactions.
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Research ethics: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: Weiwei Han and Sanbao Dong contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Weiwei Han, Hongmiao Lv and Sanbao Dong. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hongmiao Lv and Jiabao Fan. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Competing interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Weiwei Han reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22005242). Sanbao Dong reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52204046). Yue Ji Reports financial support was provided by Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (Program No. 2023-JC-QN-0128).
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Research funding: We would like to claim that the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22005242 and No. 52204046) was highly appreciated. The Graduate Innovation Fund of Xi’an Shiyou University (YCS23113063), the Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi Universities (21JP094), Science and Technology Program of Xi’an, China (No. 23GXFW0078) and the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (Program No. 2023-JC-QN-0128) also provided financial support to this study. Additionally, we would also appreciate the support from the Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Auxiliary Chemistry and Technology for Chemical Industry, Ministry of Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (No. KFKT2023-02) and Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Industrial Auxiliary Chemistry and Technology, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology (No. KFKT2023-02).
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Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Detergent Performance
- The impact of detergent performance on sustainable consumer laundry behavior: a socio-technical challenge
- Body Cleansing Formulations
- Micellar extracts obtained from Bistortae rhizoma, Fraxinus excelsior, and Romex crispus as components of hair shampoos
- Physical Chemistry
- Formulating additives in thermoresponsive surfactant-based nematic liquid crystals
- Effect of Janus nanoparticles on foam snap off in porous media
- Effect of solubilization with surfactant on the antioxidant activity of ellagic acid
- Biosurfactants
- Biosurfactants as determinants of the quality anti-aging products
- Applications
- Investigation of a highly efficient foaming mixture compromising cationic Gemini-zwitterionic-anionic surfactants for gas well deliquification
- Optimization of kerosene/oleic acid/water mixture for emulsion formation
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Detergent Performance
- The impact of detergent performance on sustainable consumer laundry behavior: a socio-technical challenge
- Body Cleansing Formulations
- Micellar extracts obtained from Bistortae rhizoma, Fraxinus excelsior, and Romex crispus as components of hair shampoos
- Physical Chemistry
- Formulating additives in thermoresponsive surfactant-based nematic liquid crystals
- Effect of Janus nanoparticles on foam snap off in porous media
- Effect of solubilization with surfactant on the antioxidant activity of ellagic acid
- Biosurfactants
- Biosurfactants as determinants of the quality anti-aging products
- Applications
- Investigation of a highly efficient foaming mixture compromising cationic Gemini-zwitterionic-anionic surfactants for gas well deliquification
- Optimization of kerosene/oleic acid/water mixture for emulsion formation
