stability proxies for water-in-oil emulsions and implications in aqueous-based enhanced oil recovery稳定油包水乳剂的代理和影响aqueous-based提高原油采收率.pdfVIP

Energies 2011, 4, 1058-1086; doi:10.3390/en4071058 OPEN ACCESS energies ISSN 1996-1073 /journal/energies Review Stability Proxies for Water-in-Oil Emulsions and Implications in Aqueous-based Enhanced Oil Recovery Vladimir Alvarado *, Xiuyu Wang and Mehrnoosh Moradi Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3295, 1000 E. University Ave, Laramie, WY 82071, USA; E-Mails: xwang7@ (X.W.); mmoradib@ (M.M.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: valvarad@; Tel.: +1-307-766-6464; Fax: +1-307-766-6777. Received: 25 May 2011; in revised form: 1 July 2011 / Accepted: 12 July 2011 / Published: 18 July 2011 Abstract: Several researchers have proposed that mobility control mechanisms can positively contribute to oil recovery in the case of emulsions generated in Enhanced-Oil Recovery (EOR) operations. Chemical EOR techniques that use alkaline components or/and surfactants are known to produce undesirable emulsions that create operational problems and are difficult to break. Other water-based methods have been less studied in this sense. EOR processes such as polymer flooding and LoSalTM injection require adjustments of water chemistry, mainly by lowering the ionic strength of the solution or by decreasing hardness. The decreased ionic strength of EOR solutions can give rise to more stable water-in-oil emulsions, which are speculated to improve mobility ratio between the in