Investigation into the Use of Thevetia Peruviana seed oil for Surfactant Flooding

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi State, Nigeria Department of Petroleum Engineering

Abstract

Surfactant is a surface-active agent that aids to improve oil recovery via changing the rock properties from oil-wet to water-wet. Synthetic surfactant is mostly used chemical enhanced oil recovery method but its vulnerability to high temperature and salinity reservoir pose a challenge to its application. In this study, Thevetia Peruviana oil was used as a precursor for surfactant formulation via saponification reaction. Soxhlet extraction technique was used to extract the oil from the seeds. Physicochemical properties of the extracted oil were investigated. Characterization using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and X-ray fluorescence was carried out on the formulated surfactant to determine the functional groups and elemental composition. The results of this study showed that the Thevetia Peruviana seed have percentage of oil yield (61.3%), saponification value (218.79mg/100g), acid value (28.05mg/g), free fatty acid (14.03 mg/L), iodine value (9.39mg/L), specific gravity (0.90 g/cm3) and pH (4.04). The FTIR test results on the formulated surfactant showed the presence of the hydroxyl (OH) and carboxyl (COOH) functional groups. The XRF test showed major elements such as silicon, magesium, chlorine, iron and copper. This indicate that the surfactant is anionic and have hydrophilic behavior which will be effective for use in enhanced oil recovery in sandstone reservoir.

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