Laboratory Test of Aqueous Stability and Phase Behavior of Sodium Lignosulphonate (SLS) Surfactant With Intermediate Oil at High Salinity

Abstract

So far, the commonly used surfactant on petroleum industry is petroleum-based surfactant (Petroleum Sulphonate). Although this type of surfactant can perform optimally in reducing Interfacial Tension (IFT), it comes with a high cost, not renewable and not environmentally friendly. That is why plant-based surfactant emerge as alternative on oil recovery effort. One type of alternative plant-based surfactant is Sodium Lignosulphonate (SLS) Surfactant made from lignin. The character of surfactant used on EOR process is important to be identified to make sure it is suitable with the oil condition in reservoir. Surfactant characteristic tests conducted in this laboratory experiment are Aqueous Stability Test and Phase Behavior Test. Based on that, the objective of this research is to identify the characteristic of Bagasse Sodium Lignosulphonate (SLS) Surfactant, by conducting aqueous stability and phas  behavior tests, in order to sort the ones that pass the tests to continue to the next stage. There are three variations of brine salinities used in this research namely 90.000 ppm, 100.000 ppm and 100.000 ppm with Bagasse Sodium Lignosulphonate (SLS) Surfactant concentrations of 1%; 1,5%; 2%; 2,5% and 3% with a 1:1 ratio of co-surfactant addition to the SLS surfactant. The results of this research revealed that every surfactant solution involved in Aqueous Stability test has homogenous solubility, which is marked by its transparent color. Based on Phase Behavior Test, surfactant with concentrations of 1,5% and 2,5% with 110.000 ppm salinity were managed to form middle phase with relatively large amount of total emulsion.