Impact of Spacer and Hydrophobic Tail on Interfacial and Rheological Properties of Cationic Amido-Amine Gemini Surfactants for EOR Application

Muhammad Shahzad Kamal; S. M. Shakil Hussain; Lionel Talley Fogang; Abdullah S. Sultan

doi:10.3139/113.110591

Article

Impact of Spacer and Hydrophobic Tail on Interfacial and Rheological Properties of Cationic Amido-Amine Gemini Surfactants for EOR Application

Muhammad Shahzad Kamal , S. M. Shakil Hussain , Lionel Talley Fogang and Abdullah S. Sultan

Published/Copyright: November 16, 2018

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From the journal Tenside Surfactants Detergents Volume 55 Issue 6

Abstract

The impact of spacer length, spacer rigidity, trans and cis conformation of spacer double bond, and hydrophobic tail length of amido-amine cationic gemini surfactants was investigated by means of interfacial and rheological properties. For the study, six cationic amido-amine gemini surfactants were synthesized and used a cationic polyacrylamide. The interfacial tension (IFT) of the surfactants between crude oil and water was measured as a function of the surfactant concentration. It has been observed that the nature of the spacer and hydrophobic moiety have a significant effect on the oil/water interfacial tension. Rheological measurements of the surfactant-polymer hybrid system were performed at various surfactant concentrations, shear rates and temperatures. All synthesized cationic gemini surfactants were compatible with the cationic polyacrylamide since no precipitates were observed. By increasing the surfactant concentration, the storage modulus, as well as viscous properties of the cationic polyacrylamide, decreased at all temperatures because of the effect of charge shielding. On the other hand, the effect of concentration of surfactant was only significant at low shear rates. The storage modulus and viscous properties of the cationic polyacrylamide were also decreased significantly upon increasing surfactant tail length (C₁₂ to C₁₈). However, spacer rigidity, length, and conformation of spacer double bond caused a slight decrease in the storage modulus and viscous properties of cationic polyacrylamide. IFT, rheological properties, and compatibility tests showed huge potential of investigated surfactant-polymer system for enhanced oil production.

Kurzfassung

Der Einfluss der Länge und der Steifheit des Spacers, der trans- und cis-Konformation der Spacer-Doppelbindung und der Länge des hydrophoben Teils von kationischen Amido-Amin-Gemini-Tensiden wurde mit Messungen der Grenzflächen- und rheologischen Eigenschaften bestimmt. Für die Untersuchung wurden sechs kationische Amido-Amin-Gemini-Tenside synthetisiert und ein kationisches Polyacrylamid verwendet. Die Grenzflächenspannung (IFT) der Tenside zwischen Rohöl und Wasser wurde in Abhängigkeit von der Tensidkonzentration gemessen. Es wurde beobachtet, dass die Art des Spacers und des hydrophoben Rests eine signifikante Wirkung auf die Öl/Wasser-Grenzflächenspannung haben. Rheologische Messungen des Tensid-Polymer-Hybridsystems wurden bei verschiedenen Tensidkonzentrationen, Scherraten und Temperaturen durchgeführt. Alle synthetisierten kationischen Geminitenside waren mit dem kationischem Polyacrylamid verträglich, da keine Ausfällungen beobachtet wurden. Durch Erhöhung der Tensidkonzentration nahmen das Speichermodul sowie die viskosen Eigenschaften des kationischen Polyacrylamids aufgrund der Wirkung der Ladungsabschirmung bei allen Temperaturen ab. Andererseits war der Einfluss der Tensidkonzentration nur bei niedrigen Scherraten signifikant. Der Speichermodul und die viskosen Eigenschaften des kationischen Polyacrylamids wurden ebenfalls signifikant verringert, wenn die Länge der hydrophoben Tensidkohlenstoffkette (C₁₂ bis C₁₈) zunahm. Die Steifheit, Länge und Konformation der Spacer-Doppelbindung verursachten jedoch eine leichte Abnahme des Speichermoduls und der viskosen Eigenschaften des kationischem Polyacrylamids. Die Öl/Wasser-Grenzflächenspannung, die rheologische Eigenschaften und die Kompatibilitätstests weisen auf ein enormes Potential des untersuchten Tensid-Polymer-Systems für EOR-Ölproduktion hin.

Key words: Surfactant; enhanced oil recovery (EOR); polymer; rigidity; rheology

Stichwörter: Tensid; Erweiterte Erölgewinnung (EOR) Polymer; Steifheit; Rheologie

*Correspondence address, Dr. S. M. Shakil Hussain, Center for Integrative Petroleum Research, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, 31261 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Tel.: +966138602156, Fax: +966138603989, E-Mail: smshakil@kfupm.edu.sa

S. M. Shakil Hussain accomplished his Ph.D (2009) in synthetic organic chemistry in collaboration with Queen's University, Canada, and University of Karachi. He had been a Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen's University, Canada. Currently, he is working as a Research Scientist in Center for Integrative Petroleum Research at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia.

Muhammad Shahzad Kamal received his B.Sc. (2008) in chemical engineering and M.Sc. (2010) in polymer engineering from UET Lahore. He completed his PhD in chemical engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. Currently he is working as Research Engineer in Center for Integrative Petroleum Research at KFUPM.

Abdullah S. Sultan received his B.Sc. (2002) and M.Sc (2005) in Chemical Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. He completed PhD (2009) in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University, USA, Texas. Currently he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at KFUPM.

Fogang Lionel Talley received his MS degree from Petroleum Engineering Department, KFUPM. Currenlty, he is working as a laboratory specialist in chemical EOR lab of College of Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences, KFUPM.

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Received: 2017-09-27

Accepted: 2017-12-14

Published Online: 2018-11-16

Published in Print: 2018-11-16

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https://doi.org/10.3139/113.110591

Keywords for this article

Surfactant; enhanced oil recovery (EOR); polymer; rigidity; rheology