Water Solubilization Capacity and Conductance Behaviors of Anionic and Cationic Microemulsion Systems

One of the most important tools in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is microemulsion flooding to recover residual oil trapped in the reservoir after water flooding. The solubilization and phase equilibria of oil-water microemulsion have been studied with special attention on the role of alkane carbon number (ACN) of hydrocarbon, surfactant, and cosurfactant concentration on the formation of microemulsion. The ability of anionic and cationic microemulsion systems to solubilize alcohol has been investigated for different hydrocarbons. The effect of additives (NaCl salt with different concentrations) on electrical conductivity was studied by dropwise addition of brine in different concentrations to justify percolation of the microemulsion systems. The temperature effect on conductivity of microemulsions was also studied. Different aliphatic hydrocarbons (C(6) to C(12)) and aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene and toluene were used as synthetic oils. For the preparation of microemulsions, propan-2-ol and 3-methyl-1-butanol were selected as cosurfactants. The dependence of concentrations of the cosurfactant and surfactant on the boundary phase separation was also investigated.