Synergistic collaboration between an emulsifier, surfactant and penetrant for rapid low-shear emulsification to enhance heavy-oil recovery
5 affiliations
- 1State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University Chengdu 610500 China
- 2The Center of Functional Materials for Working Fluids of Oil and Gas Field, Sichuan Engineering Technology Research Center of Basalt Fiber Composites Development and Application, School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University Chengdu 610500 China
- 3Center for Computational Chemistry and Molecular Simulation, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University Chengdu 610500 China
- 4Karamay Jiede Technology Co., Ltd. Karamay Xinjiang 834000 China
- 5Sichuan Haidun Oil New Technology Development Company, Ltd. Chengdu 610041 China
Abstract
Developing a viscosity reducer that can rapidly emulsify heavy oil and reduce its viscosity under low shear conditions is crucial for improving the oil recovery efficiency but remain a challenge unsolved. In this paper, a high-performance emulsifier (sodium isomeric tridecanol polyoxyethylene ether phosphate, E-1311P), a surfactant (disodium 4-dodecyl-2,4′-oxydibenzenesulfonate, DPEDS-12) and penetrant (methyl 3-nonenoate, M3N) were introduced and evaluated for enhance heavy-oil recovery. The emulsification and viscosity reduction performance of the emulsifier–surfactant–penetrant formulation was systematically evaluated through measurements of viscosity reduction, emulsification time, droplet size, oil–water interfacial tension, contact angle, and core-flooding performance. The addition of DPEDS-12 and M3N markedly improved the overall performance of E-1311P, with the optimal formulation comprising 0.30 wt% E-1311P, 0.10 wt% DPEDS-12, and 0.05 wt% M3N. At a shear rate of 7.34 s−1, this formulation achieved a viscosity reduction of 90–95% within 2–8 min, lowered the oil–water interfacial tension to 2.0 mN m−1, and reduced the contact angle to 33°. Core-flooding experiments yielded a cumulative oil recovery of 36.7%. Molecular dynamics simulations attributed the rapid low-shear emulsification to enhanced hydrophilicity, reduced steric hindrance, and accelerated molecular diffusion and penetration into heavy oil. These results demonstrate the multiscale synergy among the emulsifier, surfactant, and penetrant and highlight the great potential for enhancing heavy-oil recovery.
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BibTeX
@article{ruan2026synergistic,
title = {{Synergistic collaboration between an emulsifier, surfactant and penetrant for rapid low-shear emulsification to enhance heavy-oil recovery}},
author = {Jingxin Ruan and Huohai Yang and Xin Chen and Chengjun Xu and Zhenyu Li},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra07023j},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13663030},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Synergistic collaboration between an emulsifier, surfactant and penetrant for rapid low-shear emulsification to enhance heavy-oil recovery
AU - Jingxin Ruan
AU - Huohai Yang
AU - Xin Chen
AU - Chengjun Xu
AU - Zhenyu Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra07023j
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13663030
AB - Developing a viscosity reducer that can rapidly emulsify heavy oil and reduce its viscosity under low shear conditions is crucial for improving the oil recovery efficiency but remain a challenge unsolved. In this paper, a high-performance emulsifier (sodium isomeric tridecanol polyoxyethylene ether phosphate, E-1311P), a surfactant (disodium 4-dodecyl-2,4′-oxydibenzenesulfonate, DPEDS-12) and penetrant (methyl 3-nonenoate, M3N) were introduced and evaluated for enhance heavy-oil recovery. The emulsification and viscosity reduction performance of the emulsifier–surfactant–penetrant formulation was systematically evaluated through measurements of viscosity reduction, emulsification time, droplet size, oil–water interfacial tension, contact angle, and core-flooding performance. The addition of DPEDS-12 and M3N markedly improved the overall performance of E-1311P, with the optimal formulation comprising 0.30 wt% E-1311P, 0.10 wt% DPEDS-12, and 0.05 wt% M3N. At a shear rate of 7.34 s−1, this formulation achieved a viscosity reduction of 90–95% within 2–8 min, lowered the oil–water interfacial tension to 2.0 mN m−1, and reduced the contact angle to 33°. Core-flooding experiments yielded a cumulative oil recovery of 36.7%. Molecular dynamics simulations attributed the rapid low-shear emulsification to enhanced hydrophilicity, reduced steric hindrance, and accelerated molecular diffusion and penetration into heavy oil. These results demonstrate the multiscale synergy among the emulsifier, surfactant, and penetrant and highlight the great potential for enhancing heavy-oil recovery.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -