A multi-mechanistic approach to the oil recovery study of a family of amphiphilic polysaccharides

Abstract

Chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) remains one of the most potent tertiary recovery techniques. However, it is expensive and rarely environmentally friendly. Bio-based amphiphilic polymers have been suggested as an alternative to eradicating the challenges of conventional cEOR because of cost-effectiveness, and sustainability. Unfortunately, few in-depth studies exist in the literature to investigate the prospects of these materials. A new family of amphiphilic polysaccharides was synthesized by hydrophobic modification of cellulose sulphate, and the EOR functionalities were tested. The novel biopolymers exhibited the ability to alter rock wetting properties. In terms of recovery, one of the variants of the synthesized bio amphiphilic polymer (D-I) was able to reduce residual oil saturation to 12% at harsh conditions of 60,000 ppm salinity at 75 °C. Micromodel visual analysis revealed that the performance of the novel materials was due to the combination of mobility control, IFT lowering and emulsification, wettability alteration, and viscoelasticity. With a performance commensurate to that of a commercial hydrophobically modified polymer, it can be said that the novel amphiphilic polysaccharides can stand as a viable cEOR agent for oilfield applications.

Keywords

• Bio-based polymers
• Amphiphilic polysaccharides
• EOR
• Cellulose sulphate
• Environmental sustainability