Use of Cosolvents To Improve Alkaline/Polymer Flooding

Abstract

Summary We have found that the addition of low concentrations of certain inexpensive light cosolvents to alkaline/polymer (AP) solutions dramatically improves the performance of AP corefloods in two important ways. First, the addition of cosolvent promotes the formation of low-viscosity microemulsions rather than viscous macroemulsions. Second, these light cosolvents greatly improve the phase behavior in a way that can be tailored to a particular oil, temperature, and salinity. This new chemical enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) technology uses polymer for mobility control and has been termed alkali/cosolvent/polymer (ACP) flooding. ACP corefloods perform as well as alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP) corefloods while being simpler and more robust. We report 12 successful ACP corefloods using four different crude oils ranging from 12 to 24°API. The ACP process shows special promise for heavy oils, which tend to have large fractions of soap-forming acidic components, but is applicable across a wide range of oil gravity.