Surfactant Assisted Water Flood

Surfactant Assisted Water Floods are employed in low permeability reseviors (0.1 - 100 mD) where it is difficult to inject water. This process can also be employed as a tertiary recovery method where conditions are such that polymer and/or alkali cannot be introduced into the reservoir. This could be the case where the permeability is too low, the temperature is too high, or the salinity is too high to include polymer. This process can also be used where the amount of divalent cations is too high to use alkali. A Surfactant Assisted Water Flood increases oil recovery by increasing injectivity and lowering interfacial surface tension.

Field results at Big Sinking Field, Kentucky, USA show an increase of 220% in the injectivity rate. [Source: SPE 89384]. In Asia, a heavy oil field with low permeability increased produced fluids from 1.7 MT/day to 21 MT/day and increased the oil cut from 27% to 38%.