Synthesis of polymeric surfactant from palm oil methyl ester for enhanced oil recovery application

Methyl ester sulfonate (MES) is an anionic surfactant derived from natural oils. Polymers are large molecules composed of many repeated units that increase viscosity as a mobility control. Therefore, polymer and surfactant can be reacted into one substance as an alternative for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) application. The principle of this research is to graft sulfonate groups from MES into the polymer chain. Based on the experiments, the best result of polymerization was obtained at a mole ratio of 1:0.3 MES to acrylamide. Based on the interfacial tension (IFT) measurement, the IFT value decreased from 8.6 to 2.3 mN/m before and after the addition of polymeric surfactant respectively. The synthesis of polymeric surfactant obtained a yield of 1384.79%. Polymeric surfactant is potential candidates to change the initial oil-wet state of the quartz surface to water-wet based on wettability alteration study. According to thermal analysis and emulsification behavior, this polymeric surfactant was thermally stable under the desired reservoir temperature and was able to emulsify crude oil. The adsorption study showed that the adsorption onto the rock surface increased when the polymeric surfactant concentration was increased in the system. Core flooding experiments showed an increase in oil recovery in different concentrations of polymeric surfactant. Although the IFT value of polymeric surfactant is not very low, it has the potential as an alternative surfactant for EOR applications.