SPE-178300-MS

Formulation of Local Alkaline- Surfactant-Polymer (Asp) For Enhanced Oil

Recovery in Niger Delta: A Review
C. U. Uzoho, M. Onyekonwu, and O. Akaranta, African Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Oilfield Chemicals
Research, Institute of Petroleum Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt

Copyright 2015, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition held in Lagos, Nigeria, 4 – 6 August 2015.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
The Niger Delta basin has being producingfor over 50years using primary recovery method. It is gradually
advancing into secondary oil recovery stage after which the tertiary oil recovery techniques will be
exploited. The primary and secondary recovery methods are only able to recover about 30 –35% of oil
from the reservoir leaving the 65–70% trapped. As the demand for energy and the cost of drilling increases
globally, there arises the need to squeeze the bottom of the barrel. Chemical processes is one of the tertiary
recovery techniques which involves the use of chemicals (Alkaline, Surfactant, and Polymer) for enhance
oil recovery but these synthesized chemicals are imported and expensive. Several researchers have shown
that Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) blends have high potentials to enhance oil recovery through a
combination of the positive effects of these three types of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) agents. Research
had also shown that local materials in our environment can enhance oil recovery. This review paper
outlines local materials that have being in use in the formulation of ASP for EOR. Challenges involved
in using these local materials are also outlined. One of such challenges is that most of thesematerials are
also used as food. The use of agro-wastesfrom plants that have similar characteristics as the consumable
local materials for the formulation of local ASP is proposed. These agro-wastes provide salinity tolerance
and are stable at high temperature when compared with synthesized chemicals. Their utilization will
minimize production cost as their cost will be theoretically independent of oil price, maximize profit,
convert waste to wealth and create job opportunities for Nigerians.

Introduction
There are three stages of oil production namely the primary, secondary and tertiary oil recovery methods.
Over two-third of the oil in the reservoir is trapped and cannot be removed by primary and secondary
methods of oil production. The primary recovery method uses natural reservoir energy for oil production
but when this reservoir energy is depleted, it becomes necessary to inject natural gas or water in order to
maintain the reservoir pressure. This process is the secondary recovery method which is also an aspect of
Enhanced Oil Recovery. When it becomes ineffective due to capillary forces, the tertiary recovery method
is employed. The tertiary recovery method is the use of techniques or materials other than natural gas or
water to displace the trapped oil.It is categorized into miscible flooding processes, thermal flooding
2 SPE-178300-MS

processes, microbial flooding processes and chemical flooding processes as shown in Figure 1. The
miscible flooding process is further divided into two namely the single contact and the multiple contact
process. The single contact process is the use of alcohol or inert gases to achieve miscibility while the
multiple contact is the injection of methane, which is not miscible at first contact but relies on chemical
exchange between phases to achieve miscibility. Secondly, we have the thermal flooding process. This
comprises of the use of hot water and insitu combustion to increase the temperature in the reservoir for
easy flow of oil. The third process is the microbial flooding process, which is the use of micro-organisms
to form polymer or surfactant in the reservoir that enhances oil recovery. The chemical flooding process
is the fourth type of tertiary recovery method. It employs the use of the characteristics of alkaline,
surfactant, and polymer to displace trapped oil in the reservoir.The miscible, chemical and microbial
flooding are applicable in reservoirs containing light crude oil while thermal flooding is applicable in
reservoirs containing heavy crude oil (Ronald et al, 2001).

Figure 1—Categories of Tertiary Recovery Method

The ultimate goal of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is to increase the overall oil displacement, thereby,
displacing trapped oil from reservoirs into production wells. The mechanisms through which these oil
displacement process works by EOR includes reduction of interfacial tension, increase in capillary number
which leads to reduction in capillary forces, improved sweep efficiency, wettability alteration of the rock,
improved mobility ratio between displacing and displaced fluid, emulsification of oil, pH and salinity
control. Certain chemicals are injected into the reservoir to achieve these mechanisms and displace
trapped oil. Research had shown that extracts of local materials can also be used to activate these
mechanisms. These local materials are available in our environment and can well replace the conventional
chemicals used for chemical flooding EOR processes. This will promote the use of domestic resources
including those regarded as waste for wealth and job creation. It will reduce our dependence on imported
oilfield chemicals, position the Nigerian Oil industry for tertiary oil recovery since advancement into this
stage of oil production is fast approaching and lead to economic benefit to the petroleum industry,
individuals and the nation at large.
Review Justificaton
Most Oilfield chemicals being used in Nigeria are imported and expensive. To discontinue this ugly trend
of importing these expensive chemicals; research shows that extracts from our local materials can enhance
oil recovery. This review paper considered that most of these local materials are consumables which might
lead to shortage of food supply. To avoid such situation, there is theneed to consider agro-wastes that have
similar characteristics as the consumable/edible local materials for EOR. This will lead to waste to wealth
SPE-178300-MS 3

conversion and createjob opportunities.This review paper is limited to chemical flooding as it applies to
the Niger Delta.
Alkaline Flooding
During alkaline flooding, the alkaline reacts with naphthenic acids in the reservoir to form surfactant
(soap). This surfactant reduces interfacial tension (IFT) between oil and water, reduces capillary pressure
and alters wettability (i.e. the injection of alkali into the reservoir makes the reservoir more water-wet,
thus increasing the flood effectiveness (Osuji et al, 2011)). The effectiveness of alkaline flooding and the
amount of natural soap generated is a function of the acidity of the reservoir (crude) oil. Crude oil is
considered acidic; if their total acid number (TAN) exceeds 0.5g KOH/g by non-aqueous titration. The
TAN of oil is used to quantify the presence of naphthenic acids in the reservoir (Thomas et al, 2014
andObot et al, 2014). Alkaline flooding is successful for reservoirs with high acid content.
In most cases, the soap formed by injecting alkali may not reduce the interfacial tension (IFT)
optimally; therefore, a relatively small amount of a suitable surfactant is injected with the alkali so that
the surfactant/soap mixture will operate optimally at reservoir conditions. Research had shown that at low
acid concentration, the addition of alkali to the added surfactant solution will only increase IFT but at
medium acid concentration of reservoir oil, it will produce an ultra-low IFT (Ojukwu et al, Ojo et al and
Abeng et al, 2012). Conventional alkalis used are Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium
Silicate, Sodium Meta Silicate, Ammonia, Ammonium Hydroxide and Sodium Orthosilicate. Sodium
Hydroxide is the most popular and the less corrosive for sandstone is Sodium Carbonate. Sodium
Orthosilicate is the most effective, followed by Sodium Hydroxide and then, Sodium Carbonate. Sodium
Carbonate promotes water wetness, generates natural surfactant from naphthenic acid in the crude oil and
reduces the adsorption of anionic surfactant. Alkali can also be sourced locally from Agro-waste materials
like plantain peel ash, saw dust, wood ash, palm bunch ash, banana leaves, cocoa pod, maize cob, and
sugar beet waste. These materials when dissolved in water form alkaline solutions.
Na2O ⫹ H2O ¡ 2NaOH
K2O ⫹ H2O ¡ 2KOH
Research had shown them effective in Alkaline flooding, Alkaline-Surfactant flooding and in Alkaline-
Surfactant-Polymer flooding. Rahman et al, 2010 extracted alkali from maple wood ashand surfactants
from soap nuts. The experiment showed that 2– 6% maple wood ash and2– 4% ground soap nut extracted
solution can significantly reduce the IFT between crude oil and water interface. It was observed that
alkalinity (pH value) of 6% maple wood ash solution is very close to 0.5% synthetic Sodium Hydroxide
and 0.75% synthetic Sodium Meta Silicate solution. Obot et al, 2014, used Akawu and Palm bunch ash
for alkaline flooding and their result showed a good recovery efficiency of these local materials. Ash
solution can be prepared with hot water prior to flooding. This will facilitate the oil being released from
the oil bearing sand and hence oil recovery is increased.
Surfactant Flooding
Surfactants are surface active agents like soap and detergent. Their hydrophilic and hydrophobic nature
reduces the interfacial tension between oil and water. There are four types of surfactant namely the
anionic, cationic, non-ionic and zwitter ionic as shown in Table 1. The type of surfactant used and its
concentration are key factors that affect the effectiveness of surfactant flooding. Surfactant when injected
in high concentration assembles into aggregates of large molecules called micelle. This micelle is a round
clusters of hydrocarbon formed when the amount of surfactants in aqueous solution reaches a critical
point. It has less affinity for interface when compared to surfactants (Chibuotu et al, 2012). Before
surfactant flooding, apreflush is injected to precondition the reservoirs. This preflush contains sacrificial
agents such as Sodium Tripolyphoshate (Enordet, 2013).The alkaline preflush increases the core salinity
to the optimum salinity of the surfactant formulation before the surfactant slug(Krishna et al., 2013).Fresh
4 SPE-178300-MS

water can also be injected to change salinity and hardness of the formation brine. This helps to reduce the
adsorption of surfactant to rock surfaces. The factors affecting surfactant adsorptions are temperature, pH,
salinity, surfactant type and the rock type.Low salinity brine enhances oil recovery more than high salinity
brine as shown in Figure 2. Injecting high salinity brine into oil reservoirs maintains the pressure and
drives the crude oil towards the producer wells. However, as salt is a conductor of electricity, it creates
electrical charges that react with the rock reservoir walls, resulting in a magnetic effect. As oil adheres to
the rock walls, the quantity of oil that can be recovered is reduced. However, by using low salinity brine
the amount of electrical charge is lowered. The oil is then more easily liberated from the rock, allowing
ever more oil to be recovered. But the low salinity brine needs to have a salinity low enough to yield extra
recovery and at the same time high enough to prevent formation damage by clay swelling (Pingo-Almada
et al, 2013).

Table 1—Types of surfactant

Surfactant Type Limitation Advantage

Anionic e.g. Sodium dodecyl High adsorption in carbonate formation IFT reduction in a non-reactive crude oil
lbenzenesulphonate, sodium stearate, sodium Sensitive to high salinity Low adsorption in sandstone
dodecyl sulphateetc Clay stability
Cheap price
Cationic e.g. Dodecyl trimethyl ammonium Adsorbed by anionic sources of clays and sand N/A
bromide Sensitive to high salinity
Non-ionic e.g. Ethylene oxide, alkyl phenol Do not ionize in water Exhibit surfactant properties when dissolved in
ethoxylate, Polyoxy ethylene alcohol, aqueous solution
propylene oxide, etc Less sensitive to high salinities than anionic
and cationic
Wettability alteration in a reactive crude oil
Zwitter ionic Have not being tested in oil recovery N/A

Figure 2—Effect of Salinity on Oil Recovery

Most research works on surfactant flooding are successful though expensive because of the cost of
surfactants. Literature reports some technically successful surfactants field projects. Among others are the
pilot tests for the Big Muddy field in Wyoming. The reservoir was low-pressure watered-cut sandstone
with reasonably high remaining oil saturation and successfully increased the oil cut from 1% to 19%
during peak production. A field test was conducted in a water-cut portion of a sandstone reservoir at
Exxon’s Loudon field in Illinois. The report shows a 60% production of the residual oil saturation inspite
of the high-salinity formation brine. 68% of the residual oil was also recovered in the Chateaurenard field
pilot test (TOPEJ). The experimental work by Momodu et al, 2012 using surfactant water in enhancing
SPE-178300-MS 5

oil recovery showed that surfactant in detergent form is better for surfactant flooding since it produced
fewer slugs as shown in Table 3. The detergent excellent performance was attributed to the presence of
various compounds of sodium in its formulation. Their result showed that the higher the concentration of
surfactant, the lower the percentage of oil recovered because of the formation of micelles. It was also
observed that the effect of the surfactant injection after waterflooding was not felt immediately until after
some time. Chiabuotu et al, 2012 research work agreed with that of Momodu et al, 2012. They used
detergent, local soap from palm bunch ash, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide for alkaline/
surfactant flooding using unconsolidated sand as porous medium. The experimental result showed that
detergent had the highest recovery percentage because of its sodium compounds. One of which is sodium
triphosphate, a metallic phosphate of phosphoric acid, which helps the surfactant in detergent to function
properly by counteracting the effect of calcium salt.The first commercial synthesized surfactants were
Alkyl benzene sulfonates. In order to reduce the cost of using synthetic surfactants, agro-wastes such as
paw paw leave, palm oil processing effluent (poma) and bitterleaf are proposed.

Table 2—Advantages and Disadvantages of ASP Materials

Type of flooding Advantage Disadvantage Screening Parameters

Alklaine Reduces IFT, Alters wettability Not recommended for carbonate Gravity 13–35API Depth ⬍ about
and reduces adsorption of reservoirs, scale production, 9000ft Temperature ⬍ 200oF
surfactant and high casutic consumption Viscosity ⬍ 200cp Ave.
Permeabilty⬎20md
Surfactant Reduces IFT Expensive Gravity (medium to high)
Enhances aquifer remediation Asorption unto the rock Temperature ⬍ 212oF Salinity
of petroleum hydrocarbon surface 0.5-12% Viscosity ⬍ 300cp
contamination in soil and Formation of micelle at high Oil saturation (Relatively high)
bedrock aquifer concentration
Polymer Improves volumetric sweep Susceptible to high salinity and Gravity ⬎ 18 oAPI Depth ⬍
efficiency, reduce mobility temperature, microbial 9000ft Temperature ⬍ 225oF
ratio degradation, well bore Viscosity ⬍ 200cp Ave.
plugging, limited to reservoir Permeability⬎20md Oil
with high permeability and saturation ⬎ 10% Formation
porosity type (sandstone/carbonate)
Composition (not critical)
ASP Very effective, reduces Emulsion production, sensitive to As in the screening of Alkaline,
concentration and cost of high salinity and temperature Surfactant and Polymer
surfactant
6 SPE-178300-MS

Table 3—Local materials for EOR

SPE-178300-MS 7

Table 3—Continued.
8 SPE-178300-MS

Table 3—Continued.
SPE-178300-MS 9

Table 3—Continued.
10 SPE-178300-MS

Alcohol is a co-solvent used to enhance the performance of surfactants. It reacts with fatty acid in the
presence of water to from soap. The fatty alcohol behaves as non-ionic surfactants which help to further
reduce IFT in surfactant flooding. They are used in the production of detergents and surfactants. The
addition of alcohol during surfactant flooding inhibits the formation of emulsion especially at high
surfactant concentration or low temperature condition. It has the ability to partition into aqueous, oleic,
and micro-emulsion phases which allows it to alter micro-emulsion phase behavior (Akpomedaye et al.,
2011). Research confirms this that petroleum sulfonate or alcoholic surfactants can be used to achieve the
ultra-low IFT of the required range. Alcohol also increases the solubility of a surfactant when the
alcohol/surfactant ratio is sufficiently high. The presence of ethoxylate and propoxylate group can
increase the tolerance level of surfactant to divalent cations present in formation brine (Chiabuotu et al,
2012 and Akpomedaye et al, 2011). Ikeagwu et al, 2012 studied the alcohol (palm wine)-water mixture
on oil recovery efficiency and reported that palm wine had the highest recovery percentage when
compared to ethanol (CH3CH2OH). But the research of Abel et al, 2012 who used local alcohol from local
gin, palm wine and fermented starch as displacing fluid showed that the alcohol from the local gin gave
the highest recovery. They also observed that during the core flooding process, the palm wine and
fermented starch alcohol came out before the oil, which makes them unsuitable for alcohol/surfactant
flooding.
The experimental work by Chiabuotu et al, 2012 ascertains that oil recovery is higher in water-wet
reservoir than in oil-wet reservoir. They conducted a coreflooding experiment using glass beads and
unconsolidated sand as porous media. The result showed that the residual oil saturation after tertiary
recovery processes was higher for the glass beads than that of the unconsolidated sand.
Alcohol can be extracted from plants like water hyacinth, nipa palm, and elephant grass which contain
51.6%, 83.43% and 95% of lower molecular weight alcohol respectively.
Many surfactants have been produced from natural oils to satisfyEOR requirements. In recent years,
long chain alkyl polyglucosides (APG) gained attention as a promising surfactant for EOR application
primarily due to their superb eco-friendly characteristics. They are a class of non-ionic surfactants derived
from sugar and fatty alcohols manufactured from renewable raw materials such as starch and fat
(Bisweswar et al., 2013). Soya beans and coconut oil being the most popular raw materials used as
oleochemicalfeedstocks for the production of fatty alcohols and esters. These natural oils are edible
vegetable oil which will compete with food supply on a long-term. Research showed that jatropha oil can
replace the use of edible oil for surfactant synthesis. Jatropha oil is non-edible, renewable, natural and
inexpensive. It has great potential for a fatty acid source. According to the US department of Agriculture
Oilseeds 2009, the average cost of soyabean oil was approximately $395 per tonne while that of
non-edible oils like jatropha oil was about $250 per tonne and a major petrochemical feedstock such as
ethylene was $595 per tonne. This shows clearly that the production of jatropha oil based surfactant will
be an attractive pursuit for chemical EOR (khaled et al). There is also a higher percentage of oil in jatropha
(40%) than in soya beans (14%). The oil extract from palm fruit (20%) and palm kernel (36%) can also
be used for surfactant synthesis.
Polymer Flooding
Polymer flooding is the use of materials that act as thickeners. These materials are high molecular weight
polymers which increases the viscosity of the displacing fluid (water). Thus, prevents viscous fingering
and allows more oil to be contacted on macroscopic scale. It enhances the volumetric sweep efficiency
which causes more oil to be displaced to the surface. Polymer injection does not reduce the residual oil
saturation but enables us to reach it more quickly and economically by reducing water production
(Krishna et al., 2013). They are known as mobility controller for Enhanced Oil Recovery. Polymer
flooding has not been successful in high temperature reservoir, a temperature above 160oF in moderate
salinity or heavy salinity brines. It has the best application in moderately heterogeneous reservoir
SPE-178300-MS 11

containing oil with viscosity less than 100centipoise (Cp). This will be a good application to the Niger
Delta, having a viscosity of 53.2Cp. Polymer concentration to water for EOR is 250 to 2000 parts per
million (PPM). It has been reported that operators are more likely to have a successful polymer flooding
if they start the process early in the production life of the reservoir (Ronald et al, 2001). The visco-
elasticity of polymer solution can help the displacement of oil remaining in micropores that could not be
displaced by waterflooding. Ronald et al, 2001 reported that biologically produced polysaccharide
(Starch) is a better polymer than the synthetically produced polyacrylamides. This is because the
polyacrylamides is susceptible to mechanical shear and are sensitive to salt which leads to a reduction in
their viscosity but the polysaccharides are less susceptible to both mechanical shear and salt.Salinity
causes the molecular chain of the polymer to collapse, which results in a much smaller molecule and
hence, a lower viscosity solution (Adebayo et al., 2012, and Ojo et al., 2014). High concentration of
polymers is utilized to reduce the effect of salinity and maintain high viscosity in formation water (Zhiwei
et al., 2014).The aqueous solution of polymer shows non-Newtonian behavior and its apparent viscosity
is a function of polymer concentration, shear rate, hydrolysis, oxidation, microbial attack and temperature
(Abhijit et al, 2012). Research works has shown the effectiveness of conventional and local polymer
flooding. Ihebuzor et al, 2012 and Ade et al, 2012 in their different experimental work on local polymer
using gum arabic, ogbonno and okra for EOR reported that okra been less viscous than gum Arabic, gave
the highest recovery and ogbonno gave the least recovery. Another work by Gbonhinbor et al, 2012 used
aqueous beans (common beans) as source of local polymer. Their results confirm that natural protein
sources are polymers and can exhibit polymeric behavior. The experimental results showed clearly the
advantages of aqueous beans (polymer) flooding over water flooding operations when attempting to
recover a slightly heavy crude oil. Samuel et al, 2012 worked with starch and ogbonno as polymers. In
the core flooded with starch polymer, good mobility was achieved at low viscosity; hence, more oil was
recovered. It was observed that at high viscosity during ogbonno flooding, there was little or no
improvement in oil recovery despite the better mobility ratio. This could be explained from the work of
Ajabuego et al. who noticed during ogbonno (polymer) flooding that there was a pressure build up and
low flow rate due to formation plugging. Hydrophobically modified, water-soluble co-polymers can offer
significant advantages in polymer flooding over anionic polyacrylamides (APAM). This type of copoly-
mers yields greater viscosity because it uses its thickening effect by molecular weight plus its hydrophobic
interactions between different polymer chains; its viscosity is not sensitive to salinity and shear stress
unlike the APAM and sulfonated polyacrylamides (Roland et al., 2013). Polymer flooding can be
enhanced with alcohol. The polymer must be in larger ratio than the alcohol to give better recovery with
large grain size. Alcohol flooding alone does not have the density required to displace oil from the
reservoir (Akujuobi et al, 2011) but alcohol can be used alone in formation with smaller grain sizes
because it reduces the IFT in the fluids (Akpomedaya et al, 2012). Polymer/Alcohol flooding is not
efficient in smaller grains due to low penetration rate.Conventional polymers are Partially Hydrolyzed
Polyacrylamide (PHPAM), Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide, Carboxymethyl hydroxyethy Cellulose (CMC),
Hydroethyl cellulose, KYPAM, Floppan, Glucan and Xanthan Gum. Local polymers considered are
mostly bio-polymers like Gum Arabic, Guar Gum, Achi, Okra, Ogbonno, Ukpo, Offor .Achi and Offor
are stable at high temperatures but suffer microbial attack (Osuji et al, 2012).
Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer Flooding
ASP flooding was first introduced in 1984 as cosurfactant-enhanced alkaline flooding (Hourshad, 2008).
Several ASP field tests have confirmed that ASP flooding can displace residual oil. The most famous test
was done on Daqing oilfield in which oil recovery was increased by 20% after waterflooding (Mohammed
et al, 2013). The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the use of ASP flooding technique has
successfully improved oil recovery at a 106 years old Illinois field by more than 300%. This field has been
able to increase production from 16 barrels to 75 barrels oil per day using an innovative ASP flooding
12 SPE-178300-MS

technique. The overall oil cut was also increased from 1% to 12%. It has been reported that ASP
technology does not only increase oil production but also reduces water production. The chemicals used
are non-toxic which reduces disposal liability; making the process more attractive.The chemical cost in
most ASP projects is between $2.50 and $6.00 per barrel of incremental oil recovered (Osuji et al., 2012).
Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) flooding engages the synergistic effect of alkaline, surfactant, and
polymer to give higher recovery than their single use (Abhijit et al, 2012,James et al, 2013, Ojukwu et
al, 2012 and Osuji et al, 2012). The effect of alkali in ASP flooding is that it reacts with reservoir acid
to form insitu surfactant. It also alters rock properties like pH, salinity, and rock wettability. Alkali also
reduces the surfactant depletion rate (Abhijit et al, 2012) as shown in Table 2. The decrease in IFT of
surfactant-polymer solution in the presence of alkali may be due to charge-shielding mechanism and
hydrolysis polymer. Surfactants reduce IFT and create emulsion of fluids. They play important role in
ASP flooding. Increase in surfactant concentration has a significant increase in recovery but its main
setback is that it is quickly adsorbed onto rock surfaces. Polymer has a significant effect in ASP flooding.
It’s been observed that as polymer concentration increases, the additional recovery increases only
marginally because after a certain concentration of polymer, the sweep efficiency approaches to its
limiting value and only marginal additional recovery is observed (Abhijit et al, 2012). This can be seen
in the experimental work by Ojukwu et al, 2012. They reported that high viscosity of a polymer can lead
to poor recovery. Palm bunch ash, Soya beans and Ogbonno were used as the Alkaline, Surfactant and
Polymer respectively. The results showed that the polymer (Ogbonno) recovered nothing initially until its
concentration was increased and as the concentration and viscosity became too high, its recovery started
declining. Ojo et al, 2014 result also revealed that at high viscosities of ASP solution, a good mobility is
achieved but with less recovery. This they attributed to the alkaline increase concentration which reduces
the visco-elastic effect of the polymer. This shows clearly that it’s not all about the viscosity of the ASP
solution but the ideal concentration of each flooding process.Anionic Surfactant (Sodium dodecyl Sulfate
(C12H24SO4 Na), 0.1– 0.3%wt concentration), with Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH, 95% purity, 0.5 – 1%
concentration) and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PHPAM) have been used in conventional ASP
flooding technique and the result showed that ASP significantly influences the surface tensions(Abhijit et
al, 2012 and TIORCO). Core flooding tests of chemflooding proved that more than 17–18% incremental
oil recovery over waterflooding could be obtained with ASP (0.6wt% Na3PO4 ⫹ 0.3wt% surfactant ⫹
1000ppm polymer) or SP (0.3wt% surfactant ⫹ 1000ppm polymer) flooding. ASP flooding has been
successfully tested and applied in some reservoir with good performance in China, including Daqing
sandstone reservoirs, Xingjiang conglomerate reservoirs and shengli complex fault block reservoirs
(Youyi et al.,2013). In Daqing oil, the alkali (Na2CO3) percentage used was between 0.75–1.6% by
weight and surfactant between 0.5–3.5% by weight in order to reduce IFT between water and Daqing oil
(Krishna et al.,2013).
Local materials in our environment are now available for EOR use. These include bio-based or
plant-based chemicals including those based on by-products/Agro-waste from food processing and plant
ash. These bio-based alkaline/surfactant/polymer have claimed to provide salinity tolerance over a much
larger range than the Sulphonate surfactants. Similarly, some of these could be applied at higher
temperatures than polyacrylamides. They are regarded as “green” chemicals that help reduce the overall
environmental foot-print of EOR operations (Krishna et al., 2013). Considering the use of these plant
waste will reduce cost of production, maximize profit, convert waste to wealth and create job opportu-
nities.
From the above analysis, it can be deduced that local materials like palm bunch ash, akawu, local gin,
palm wine, detergent surfactant, xanthan gum, exudate gums and okra can serve as good EOR agents. The
ideal concentration for each of these flooding processes is also very important for a successful flooding
operation. This review work shows that among the local raw material alkaline, palm bunch ash (PBA) is
the best because of its economical source of potassium with high pH (12). Its high pH neutralizes the
SPE-178300-MS 13

reservoir oil acidity, thereby forming a betterinsitu surfactant to reduce the ITF between water and oil.
Detergent is the best surfactant due to the presence of its various compound of sodium (sodium sulphate,
sodium carbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate, and sodium silicate) in their formulation. Looking at
economics as an added advantage, okra is the best polymer. This could be attributed to its highly
permeable core and viscosity of its mucilage that increases rapidly with concentration.
Abhijit et al, 2012; worked on the comparison of flooding performance using ASP slugs of different
concentration. Based on their study, the recommended concentration range of alkali, surfactant, polymer
used for flooding experiments is 0.7%, 0.2% and 1,500 –2,500ppm respectively. According to them,
surfactant concentration can also vary from 0.1– 0.3%. Another report shows that in ASP mixture, the
recommended concentration of Alkaline (typically, Sodium Carbonate or Soda Ash), Surfactant and
Polymer is 1 %– 2%, 0.3 %– 1%, and 0.1 %- 0.3% respectively (Enordet, 2013). Since the recovery of
oil is strongly dependent on reservoir rock and fluid properties, the concentration may vary from field to
field.
Based on this above reports, the experimented works by Ojo et al, 2014, Ojukwu et al,2013, Momodu
et al, 2012, Osuji et al, 2012, Akpomedaye et al,2012, Akujuobi et al, 2011 and Njay et al, 2012 met the
specification and their findings might be considered.

Challenges
● Food Shortage - It was observed that most of the local materials used are consumables which might
interfere with our food supply when considered. This may lead to food shortage. Its adverse effect
can be prevented by the use of Agro-waste, which can also conveniently serve as good EOR
agents.
● The polymer being a pseudo plastic fluid needs to be strengthened to avoid collapse due to depth
induced stress. This will reduce the viscosity of the polymer and hence makes its ineffective.
Polymer viscosity also decreases with increase in temperature.
● Slug control and management – When using plantain peel ash, the unwanted organic component
and elements needs to be eliminated. One of the unwanted elements is calcium ions (Ca2⫹) that
causes hardness of water and hencereduces the soapy nature of the surfactant solution.
● Better refining techniques for local soap (made from palm mill effluent) – this will serve as a good
local surfactant and is cheaper.
● Severe emulsion problems caused by ASP/SP flooding application – an emulsion breaker is
needed to break the stable emulsion that is formed for more enhanced oil recovery.
● Environmental return on investment – ways of minimizing waste disposal and maximizing use of
natural raw materials

Conclusion
Based on the experimental reports from literatures stated above, the following conclusions were drawn:
● Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer flooding is more effective than individual flooding process. It com-
bines the benefits of each flooding process to achieve greater recovery of trapped oil
● Local materials extract (including the non-edible materials) can serve as good EOR agents and
should be used to substitute imported Oilfield chemicals
● Detergent surfactant should be formulated specially for surfactant flooding
● The emulsion formed during core flooding experiment using local soap (from palm bunch ash) can
be inhibited by adding alcohol. Alcohol acts as a co-solvent in surfactant flooding and increases
the solubility of the surfactant
● Bio-polymers are attacked by bacteria which cause their degradation. Formaldehyde, biocides and
pesticides can be used to control their growth.
14 SPE-178300-MS

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US Department of Agriculture Oilseeds 2009

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