Production of Biodegradable Sulfonated Methyl Ester by a Falling Film Reactor for ASP Flooding in EOR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5614/j.eng.technol.sci.2021.53.1.7Keywords:
biosurfactant, EOR, methyl ester, original oil in place, PKO and CNO, sulfonated methyl esterAbstract
Petroleum production can be improved through enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods such as chemical injection. This study focused on sulfonation of methyl ester using SO3 dissolved in oleum compounds (H2SO4.SO3) in a mini-pilot falling film reactor at 70C and its application for chemical EOR with ASP flooding. The reactor was equipped with cooling water to facilitate heat transfer in view of the highly exothermic reaction. Biodegradable methyl ester sulfonate, a biosurfactant, was produced from esterification of vegetable oils, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil. The MES products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared testing, which showed S=O and -OH groups peaks, indicating that sulfonation had occurred. The IFT test data showed that the MES from CNO produced the lowest IFT values for light oil and heavy oil, equal to 11.4 mN/m and 10.3 mN/m, respectively. The effect of the MES concentration on the phase behavior was an increase of the IFT value before being applied in ASP flooding, and a decrease after reaching the optimum condition. The EOR core flooding test with the formulated ASP resulted in original oil in place (OOIP) percentages in the range of 12 to 23.5%. The highest acquisition was 23.53% OOIP for an ASP composition of 200 ppm, 0.5%wt, 2800 ppm, respectively.Downloads
References
The British Petroleum, BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019, 68th Edition, Pureprint Group Limited, United Kingdom, 2019.
Saxena N., Pal, N., Dey, S. & Mandal, A., Characterizations of Surfactant Synthesized from Palm Oil and Its Application in Enhanced Oil Recovery, Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, 81, pp. 343-55, 2017. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtice.2017.09.014.
Green, D.W. & Willhite, G.P., Enhanced oil Recovery, in SPE Text Book Series Vol. 6, Henry L. Doherty Memorial Fund of AIME, , Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson, Texas, United States, 1998.
Foster N.C., MacArthur, B.W., Sheats, W.B., Shea, M.C. & Trivedi, S.N., Production of Methyl Ester Sulfonates, Handbook of Detergents, Part F: Production, CRC Press: Boca Raton, Florida, United States, 142, p. 201, 2008.
Foster, N.C., Sulfonation and Sulfation Processes, The Chemithon Corporation, 1997.
Tan C., Saritpongteeraka, K., Kungsanant, S., Charnnok, B. & Chaiprapat, S., Low Temperature Hydrothermal Treatment of Palm Fiber Fuel for Simultaneous Potassium Removal, Enhanced Oil Recovery and Biogas Production, Fuel, 234, pp. 1055-1063, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018. 07.137.
Gutierrez-Gonzalez J., Mans-Teixido, C. & Costa-Lopez, J., Improved Mathematical Model for A Falling Film Sulfonation Reactor, Industrial & engineering chemistry research, 27(9), pp. 1701-1707, 1988. DOI: 10.1021/ie00081a023.
Olsen J.H., Hurlburt, G.H. & Kapcsandy, L.E., Method Of Making High Velocity Liquid Jet, Google Patents, US4216906A,1980.
Baker I.J., Matthews, B., Suares, H., Krodkiewska, I., Furlong, D. N., Grieser, F. & Drummond, C. I., Sugar Fatty Acid Ester Surfactants: Structure and Ultimate Aerobic Biodegradability, Journal of Surfactants and Detergents, 3, pp. 1-11, 2000. DOI: 10.1007/s11743-000-0107-2.
Mujdalipah S., Hambali, E., Suryani, A. & Zulchaidir, E., The Effect of Temperature and Residence Time for Production of Methyl Ester Sulfonic Acid (MESA) in a Single Tube of Falling Film Reactor (STFR), Agritech, 32(3), Pp. 275-283, 2012. DOI: 10.22146/agritech.9614. (Text in Indonesian)
Sheng, J.J., A Comprehensive Review of Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) Flooding, Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering, 9(4), pp. 471-489, 2014. DOI: 10.1002/apj.1824.
Guo, H., Li, Y., Wang, F., Yu, Z., Chen, Z., Wang, Y. & Gao, X., ASP Flooding: Theory and Practice Progress in China, Journal of Chemistry, 2017(5), pp. 1-18, 2017. DOI: 10.1155/2017/8509563
ASP flooding, https://www.slb.com/, (March 2020).
Roberts D., Giusti, L. & Forcella, A., Chemistry of Methyl Ester Sulfonates, Biorenewable Resources, 5, pp. 2-19, 2008.
Khoury R.R., Ebrahimi, D., Hejazi, L., Bucknall, M.P., Pickford, R. & Hibbert, D.B., Degradation of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters in Biodiesels Exposed to Sunlight and Seawater, Fuel, 90, pp. 2677-2683, 2011.
Sheats W.B. & MacArthur, B.W., Methyl Ester Sulfonate Products, 5th Cesio, 19, The Chemiton Corporation, 2002.
Babu, K., Maurya, N., Mandal, A. & Saxena, V., Synthesis and Characterization of Sodium Methyl Ester Sulfonate for Chemically Enhanced Oil Recovery, Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 32(3), pp. 795-803, 2015. DOI: 10.1590/0104-6632.20150323s00003642.
Eastoe, J. & Gold, S., Self-assembly in Green Solvents, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 7, pp. 1352-1362, 2005.
Alvin, S., Nainggolan, R., Sitompul, J.P., Adityawarman, D.,
Sitompul, M.D.M. & Marhaendrajana, T., Characterization of Poly-acrylamide Based Nanopolymer for Water Shut off in Enhanced Oil Recovery, Proceeding of Int'l Chemical Engineering Conference, paper #AS02, Bandung, Indonesia, October 02-03, 2017.