T. C. Campbell, P. Krumrine
1979
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Software - Practice and Experience
Abstract
This study describes the results obtained from laboratory tests performed to compare the relative efficiency of sodium orthosilicate vs. sodium hydroxide on residual oil recovery. These tests provide supplementary data for an alkaline waterflooding field test. The optimum concentrations of alkali and sodium chloride, used for oil displacement studies, were determined by measuring interfacial tension values of the crude oil in contact with alkaline solutions, which were prepared from soft saline water or from synthetic reservoir brine. Data, obtained from oil displacement studies in Berea sandstone cores, have shown that dilute sodium orthosilicate solutions can recover significantly higher amounts of residual oil than dilute sodium hydroxide solutions. The crude oil sample used in these studies was taken from the lower main zone of the Huntington Beach Field in California. The differences in recovery efficiency between sodium orthosilicate and sodium hydroxide may be partially explained on the basis of increased hardness ion tolerance, greater surface activity at the oil/water interface, more favorable coalescence behavior, changes in rock wettability, and decreases in surfactant adsorption.