Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Particuology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/partic

Displacement mechanisms of enhanced heavy oil recovery by alkaline flooding in

a micromodel
Mingzhe Dong a,b,∗ , Qiang Liu c , Aifen Li a
a
College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East), Qingdao, Shandong 255666, China
b
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary AB T2N 1N4, Canada
c
Brenntag Canada Inc., Calgary AB T2C 0A8, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by alkaline flooding for conventional oils has been extensively studied.
Received 17 June 2011 For heavy oils, investigations are very limited due to the unfavorable mobility ratio between the water
Accepted 23 September 2011 and oil phases. In this study, the displacement mechanisms of alkaline flooding for heavy oil EOR are
investigated by conducting flood tests in a micromodel. Two different displacement mechanisms are
Keywords: observed for enhancing heavy oil recovery. One is in situ water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion formation and
Micromodel
partial wettability alteration. The W/O emulsion formed during the injection of alkaline solution plugs
Immiscible displacement
high permeability water channels, and pore walls are altered to become partially oil-wetted, leading to
Enhanced oil recovery
Emulsion flow
an improvement in sweep efficiency and high tertiary oil recovery. The other mechanism is the formation
Alkaline flooding of an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion. Heavy oil is dispersed into the water phase by injecting an alkaline
solution containing a very dilute surfactant. The oil is then entrained in the water phase and flows out of
the model with the water phase.
© 2011 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of
Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Wagner and Leach (1959) presented laboratory tests showing

improved oil recovery through the injection of an alkaline solution
Alkaline flooding improves oil recovery for conventional oils by that reversed rock wettability from oil-wetted to water-wetted.
using an in situ surfactant generated from the reaction of alkalis and Their results demonstrated that the injected chemical solution
the natural organic acids in oil. The in situ surfactant adsorbs at the could change the wettability of the core samples. The chemi-
oil/water interface, reducing the interfacial tension (IFT). Recovery cals included acids, bases, and some salts. They believed that the
of the trapped oil is maximized at the minimum IFT (Chatterjee & application of alkaline solution should be limited to oil-wetted
Wasan, 1998). When the oil/water IFT is reduced to an ultralow reservoirs, where wettability could be reversed from oil-wetted to
level (less than 10−2 dyn/cm), residual oil can be emulsified in the water-wetted. Cooke et al. (1974) reported a mechanism by which
reservoir (Cooke, William, & Kolodzie, 1974; Dong, Liu, Zhang, & sodium hydroxide could improve waterflood oil recovery. They
Zhu, 1986; Jennings, Johnson, & McAuliffe, 1974; Wasan, Shah, observed that under the proper conditions of pH, salinity, and tem-
Chan, Sampath, & Shah, 1978). Johnson (1976) summarized three perature, some oil reservoirs were converted from water-wetted
possible mechanisms of alkaline flooding for improving conven- to oil-wetted. As a result, discontinuous, non-wetting residual oil
tional oil recovery. These include (1) dispersion and entrainment was converted to a continuous wetted phase, which provided a flow
of oil, (2) wettability reversal, and (3) emulsification and entrap- path for what would otherwise be trapped oil. They also found that
ment of oil. Johnson (1976) also pointed out that each mechanism low interfacial tension could induce the formation of a W/O emul-
worked under different injection conditions with respect to the sion. The emulsion droplets tended to block the flow of water and
oil, formation rock, and injection water properties; therefore, each induced a high pressure gradient in the region where they formed.
process should be designed to improve oil recovery in a different The high pressure gradient, in turn, could overcome the capillary
manner. forces already reduced by the low IFT, thereby further reducing
residual oil saturation.
Laboratory experiments by Jennings et al. (1974) showed that if
∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, the IFT were sufficiently low, residual oil in a preferentially water-
University of Calgary, Calgary AB T2N 1N4, Canada. Tel.: +1 403 210 7642. wetted core could be emulsified in situ, moved downstream within
E-mail address: Mingzhe.dong@ucalgary.ca (M. Dong). the flowing alkaline solution, and entrapped again by pore throats

1674-2001/$ – see front matter © 2011 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.partic.2011.09.008
 M. Dong et al. / Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305 299

that are too small for the oil emulsion droplets to penetrate. This organic compounds adsorbed on the pore walls. The displacement
would reduce water mobility and improve the sweep efficiency. procedure of the micromodel test is as follows:
McAuliffe (1973a, 1973b) also provided experimental evidence that
injection of O/W emulsions can improve waterflood oil recovery via (1) Saturate the micromodel with brine;
the emulsion entrapment mechanism. Jennings et al. (1974) con- (2) Inject the heavy oil at 60 ◦ C;
ducted coreflood tests on preserved core samples using a 187 mPa s (3) Conduct waterflooding for two pore volumes at 60 ◦ C;
oil. Their results showed that caustic flooding with 0.1 wt% NaOH (4) Conduct an alkaline flood at ambient temperature.
solution could significantly improve the waterflood oil recovery. It
was believed that in situ O/W emulsions tended to plug growing
The injection rate in all the stages was 0.075 cm3 /h (0.5 PV/h or a
water fingers and channels and diverted the flow to improve sweep
velocity of 0.5 m/day). In Step 2, a higher temperature was applied
efficiency.
to obtain a relatively high water saturation in the model. In Step 3,
Alkaline flooding EOR has been extensively studied for conven-
the mobility of heavy oil was higher at 60 ◦ C, which allowed a better
tional oils, including numerous laboratory experiments and some
sweep efficiency for water flooding or a relatively low residual oil
field tests. For heavy oils, investigations on alkaline flooding EOR
saturation. The purpose of achieving low residual oil saturation was
are very limited due to the unfavorable mobility ratio between
to create disconnected heavy oil ganglia in the two-dimensional
the water and oil phases. Compared with conventional oils, West-
pore network model for testing the two displacement mechanisms.
ern Canadian heavy oils are more viscous, and the performance of
The oil recovery was recorded as the percentage of the initial
waterflooding for these oil reservoirs is very poor. The viscosities
oil in place (IOIP) during different displacement stages. Polyethyl-
of these oils range from 1000 to more than 10,000 mPa s. Recent
ene tubing with an ID of 2.0 mm was connected to the outlet of
research (Liu, 2006; Liu, Dong, Ma, & Tu, 2007; Liu, Dong, Yue, &
the micromodel. The produced oil volume was calculated from the
Hou, 2006; Ma, 2005; Ma, Dong, Li, & Shirif, 2007) has shown that
length of oil slugs in the tube and the ID of the tube. The water
waterflood recovery of these heavy oils could be greatly improved
content in the emulsion was assessed under a microscope, and the
by alkaline flooding. Laboratory sandpack flood tests in these stud-
oil production volume was corrected accordingly.
ies showed that a dilute chemical solution injection can cause either
(1) heavy oil to be broken up into small droplets, entrained in the
water phase, and carried out of the oil sands or (2) water flow into 3. Results and discussion
channels to be blocked because of dispersion of the water-in-oil
phase, resulting in improved sweep efficiency. If the displacement 3.1. Two displacement mechanisms
mechanisms are well understood, waterflooding for these heavy
oil reservoirs can be improved by applying an optimal chemi- The distribution of the heavy oil and connate water in the micro-
cal formula to realize a displacement process most suited to the model is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1(a) is a picture of the micromodel
situation. containing heavy oil (in black) and irreducible water at the end
The objective of this study is to analyze the heavy oil EOR mech- of the oil injection. The transparent parts of the picture are sin-
anisms in alkaline flooding by observing two distinct displacement tered glass without pores. Fig. 1(b) is a pore-level image of the
processes in micromodel tests. The heavy oil tested by Liu (2006) oil and water distribution, which is an enlarged image of a region
was used in this study. High tertiary recoveries were obtained for in Fig. 1(a). This image shows water films surrounding the solid
this oil from alkaline or alkaline/surfactant injection in sandpack boundaries and the continuous oil phase occupying the central
flood tests. Alkaline flooding tests for other heavy oils from Western portion of pores and throats of the pore network. The oil color in
Canada showed similar tertiary recovery phenomena by applying Fig. 1(b) is brown due to the high brightness of the light. The image
the above two displacement mechanisms (Liu, 2006; Ma, 2005). also illustrates that the micromodel is water-wetted.
Therefore, the displacement mechanisms discussed in this paper Fig. 2 illustrates the distribution of oil in the micromodel during
are believed to be applicable to other heavy oils. and after waterflooding. Fig. 2(a)–(c) shows oil saturation changes
at two locations, L1 and L2. Fig. 2(d) shows a larger portion of the
micromodel with disconnected oil ganglia that were formed and
2. Experimental trapped in the pore network after waterflooding. As an example,
an isolated oil ganglion is labeled in Fig. 2(d). With the injection of
Oil and formation brine samples were collected from a heavy brine, the heavy oil at L1 and L2 became separated (Fig. 2(b) and
oil reservoir in Alberta, Canada. The heavy oil was centrifuged at (c)). After waterflooding, the glass pore network remained water-
10,000 rpm at 35 ◦ C for 2 h to remove water and solids in the oil. wetted. As shown in Fig. 2(d), the oil became discontinuous after
The oil had a viscosity of 1800 mPa s and a density of 0.964 g/cm3 waterflooding, when the water cut in the effluent samples was
at 22 ◦ C. The formation brine had a salinity of 2.7 wt%. The chemical nearly 100%. The disconnected oil ganglia could not be recovered
agents used in this study included NaOH, Na2 CO3 , and the surfac- by further injection of water. The trapped residual oil was in the
tant Stepanol Me Dry (sodium lauryl sulfate from Stepan, Canada). form of either small oil drops or ganglia and occupied many pore
The micromodel used in this study was made of two glass plates, bodies of the pore network.
and a two-dimensional network of pores and throats was etched Two displacement mechanisms of the residual oil were
into the top plate (Chatzis, Morrow, & Lim, 1983). The micromodel observed in the micromodel tests. One was the formation of a
consists of a porous area of 8.0 cm × 4.5 cm and a pore volume (PV) W/O emulsion and partial wettability alteration, and the other was
of 0.15 cm3 . The transparent nature of the micromodel allowed the emulsification and entrainment of heavy oil in the water phase. It
pore-scale multi-phase displacement and wettability of the pore has been shown by Ma (2005) and Ma et al. (2007) that injection of
surfaces to be visually observed. The glass micromodel was cleaned an alkaline solution (NaOH and Na2 CO3 ) could markedly improve
first with Varsol (commercial paint thinner) and then with ethanol heavy oil recovery in channeled sandpack flood tests, which simu-
to remove any residual oil in the model after a displacement test. late water channeling phenomena in heavy oil reservoirs. Fig. 3
After cleaning, the model was blown dry using air to remove the shows pictures of the micromodel network with injection of a
solvent. To keep the glass model strongly water-wetted, the model chemical slug containing 0.40 wt% NaOH and 0.20 wt% Na2 CO3 .
was then heated in a muffle furnace at 400 ◦ C for 1 h to remove trace During the alkaline injection, the injected water phase penetrated
300 M. Dong et al. / Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305

Fig. 1. Distribution of heavy oil and water in the micromodel. (a) Heavy oil in the model, (b) enlarged image of a region of (a). Pore-level distribution showing water films.

into the residual oil phase to form some discontinuous water gan- Dong, and Arhuoma (2010) derived the following correlation for
glia inside the oil phase, or a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. The the effective viscosity of a W/O emulsion in sandpacks:
formation of a W/O emulsion was confirmed by examining the pro-
log(e ) = k + log(o ), (1)
duced oil under a microscope. The produced oil could contain up to
40% water. Sandpack flow tests by Arhuoma, Dong, Yang, and Idem where e is the effective viscosity of the W/O emulsion, o is the
(2009) showed that the viscosity of a W/O emulsion is much higher oil phase viscosity, and  is the emulsion quality. The value of the
than the viscosity of the water phase and even higher than the vis- coefficient k is larger than unity and depends on the porosity and
cosity of the oil phase. Based on their experimental results, Wang, permeability of the porous medium through which the emulsion

Fig. 2. Trapping of heavy oil during waterflood in the micromodel. (a)–(c) Pore-level images of the trapping process, (d) ganglia of residual oil in the micromodel (an example
is illustrated).
 M. Dong et al. / Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305 301

Fig. 3. W/O emulsion formation and mobilization of trapped oil ganglia during alkaline injection in a micromodel test. Alkaline slug: 0.40 wt% NaOH + 0.20 wt% Na2 CO3 . (a)
Formation of a W/O emulsion, (b) oil front approaching Oil 1, (c) oil front approaching Oil 2, (d) oil front approaching Oils 3, 4 and 5.

is flowing. Eq. (1) shows that in the same porous medium (i.e., k grew from 0 to 0.8 pore volume (PV) during the oil saturation
is constant), the effective viscosity of the W/O emulsion increases process. During waterflooding, the pressure drop continued to
with increasing emulsion quality. With increasing emulsion qual- increase for the 0.2 PV injection and then decreased with the reset
ity (water content), the effective viscosity of the W/O emulsion of the waterflood. When the pressure drop declined to a certain low
becomes much higher than the oil viscosity. This phenomenon can value (at 2.4 PV), a chemical slug injection was initiated. As shown
be exploited in chemical flooding for heavy oil recovery to reduce in Fig. 4, the pressure drop increased continuously up to 12.4 kPa
the water mobility in water channels, which results in an improved due to the formation of a W/O emulsion, which had a higher viscos-
sweep efficiency. Therefore, the oil can be displaced in the form of ity than the oil. At 3.9 PV, a rapid decrease in the pressure drop was
a W/O emulsion with minimal water fingering effects. Some oil
drops also touched the pore walls, indicating that the pore wall
became partially oil-wetted (Liu, 2006; Liu, Dong, Asghari, & Tu,
2007). The wettability alteration also aided in reducing water flow
in the high-water-saturation regions.
7
The images in Fig. 3 also show that the water phase takes the
central portion of the pore spaces occupied by residual oil dur-
ing the formation of the W/O emulsion, instead of bypassing the
oil ganglia by flowing through the existing water paths. This is
how the process makes the trapped oil continuous and recoverable.
Fig. 3(a)–(d) shows the process in which trapped oil ganglia 1–5 are
merged with the displacement front through the W/O emulsifica-
tion mechanism in a micromodel test. In Fig. 3(a), the oil bank is
driven by the W/O emulsion and moves (from left to right) forward
to approach the oil ganglia. In Fig. 3(b), the oil front is approaching
Oil 1. After being merged with the W/O emulsion, Oil 1 is mobi-
lized and driven forward to touch Oil 2 (Fig. 3(c)) and then Oils
3–5 (Fig. 3(d)). With this oil mobilization mechanism, the trapped
oil ganglia become continuous and are displaced out of the micro-
model.
Fig. 4 shows the pressure drop curve for the above micromodel Fig. 4. Pressure drop as a function of time in a micromodel test. Chemical slug:
test of alkaline flooding. The pressure drop along the micromodel 0.40 wt% NaOH + 0.20 wt% Na2 CO3 .
302 M. Dong et al. / Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305

Fig. 6 shows pore-level microphotographs taken during the

above test and shows the oil and water distribution in different
displacement stages. A water film between the oil and pore wall
existed before the injection of the alkaline slug. After the alkaline
flooding, an oil film existed between the water and the surface of
the pores, indicating that the pore walls became preferentially oil-
wetted. The oil/water meniscus in Fig. 6(b) was convex to the oil
phase, suggesting that the pore wall was oil-wetted.
To investigate why the alkaline solution prefers to penetrate
into the oil phase rather than flow through the water paths in the
above test, additional micromodel tests were carried out by inject-
ing a 0.40 wt% NaOH plus 0.20 wt% Na2 CO3 solution. This solution
had a pH of 12.8. The experimental results showed that a W/O emul-
sion was formed by injecting NaOH rather than Na2 CO3 . NaOH is a
strong base, and the interaction between NaOH in the water phase
and organic acids in heavy oil is dramatic. It is hypothesized that
mass transfer occurs more rapidly at the oil/water interface with
Fig. 5. Cumulative oil recovery as a function of fluid injected in a micromodel test. a NaOH solution than with a Na2 CO3 solution. To initiate the pen-
Chemical slug: 0.40 wt% NaOH + 0.20 wt% Na2 CO3 . etration of the alkaline solution into the residual oil phase, a low
interfacial tension between the oil and water is necessary. In the
observed because the in situ formed W/O emulsion broke through presence of a 0.40 wt% NaOH solution, the IFT of oil/water is lower
the model outlet. After breakthrough, no further oil was recovered. than 0.1 dyn/cm. The lowered IFT is believed to be caused by the
Fig. 5 shows the oil recovery in the micromodel test plotted as ionization of organic acids in the oil to form in situ surfactants as
a function of PV injection during the waterflooding and chemical a result of the added alkalis. In the water-wetted glass network
injection. Waterflooding recovered approximately 28% of the IOIP, model, oil is in the central portion of the pores with thin water
and the alkaline flooding recovered an additional 33% of the IOIP. films between the oil and pore walls. A rapid reaction results in
These results show the improvement in sweep efficiency and oil a very low instantaneous IFT between the injected alkaline solu-
recovery provided by the W/O emulsion flow. tion and the residual oil, and the alkaline solution contacts the oil

Fig. 6. Pictures of one location in the micromodel at four stages in the oil displacement process. Chemical slug: 0.40 wt% NaOH + 0.20 wt% Na2 CO3 . (a) After water flooding,
(b) after alkaline flooding, (c) 50 h after alkaline flooding, (d) 150 h after alkaline flooding.
 M. Dong et al. / Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305 303

Fig. 7. Emulsification and entrainment of heavy oil in the water phase in a micromodel test. (a) Pore-level image, (b) image of the micromodel during oil displacement.

drops first in the central portion of the pores to form a W/O emul- entrainment of the heavy oil in the water phase with the injection
sion. During the process of emulsion movement, the pore walls also of an A/S slug. Because of the synergy of the surfactant and alkali
become partially oil-wetted because of the interaction of the heavy (Liu, 2006), the interfacial tension between the oil and water was
oil/alkaline solution interfaces with the glass walls. In sandpack lowered to 10−3 dyn/cm. The oil was emulsified and entrained in
flood tests (Liu, 2006; Ma, 2005), Na2 CO3 was also used together the water phase. The emulsion flow in the porous media also led
with NaOH. The calcium ion in brine can make the ionized in situ to an increase in the pressure drop and an improvement in the oil
surfactants saponified and thus lose surface activity. The use of recovery in sandpack flood tests. However, the increase in the pres-
Na2 CO3 in the water phase can precipitate Ca2+ in brine, lower- sure drop in this process was not as large as in the W/O emulsion
ing the oil/brine IFT more efficiently. Therefore, the combination of process. Using water as the external phase of the O/W emulsion
NaOH and Na2 CO3 is favorable for lowering the IFT and enhancing results in this type of emulsion having a similar viscosity as the
oil recovery. water phase.
In sandpack flood tests by Ma (2005) and Liu (2006), it
was found that the O/W emulsion mechanism occurred for 3.2. Comparison of the sweep efficiency of two displacement
enhanced oil recovery when injecting alkaline/surfactant formu- processes
las. In micromodel tests, it was confirmed that the O/W emulsion
mechanism dominated the displacement in EOR by injecting The two displacement processes resulted in different recovery
an alkaline/surfactant (A/S) formula (0.20 wt% NaOH + 0.40 wt% efficiencies, which could be visualized in the micromodel tests.
Na2 CO3 + 450 mg/L surfactant). Fig. 7 shows the emulsification and Fig. 8 shows pictures of the entire micromodel at different stages of

Fig. 8. Photos of the micromodel during an alkaline flood test showing the improvement of sweep efficiency. (a) After waterflood, (b) early stage of alkaline injection, (c)
alkaline slug reached production end, (d) at 1.0 PV alkaline slug injection.
304 M. Dong et al. / Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305

Fig. 9. Photos of the micromodel during alkaline/surfactant injection, showing the formation of water channels during chemical injection. (a) After waterflood, (b) early
stage of chemical injection, (c) chemical slug reached production end, (d) at 1.0 PV chemical slug injection.

alkaline flooding. Fig. 8(a) was taken after the initial waterflood and and enhance heavy oil recovery, water mobility in water channels
shows that some water channels (light colored) were created and and high permeability zones needs to be reduced significantly to
some regions were not approached by the waterflood. The sweep divert the flow to oil-rich channels. The above experimental results
efficiency by waterflooding was approximately 70% based on the showed that water channels could be more effectively blocked by
area swept by the waterflood. When the alkaline solution was injecting an alkaline slug rather than an A/S slug.
injected, as shown in Fig. 8(b), the water channels were eliminated
by re-mobilized residual oil, and the area behind the displacement 3.3. Application of the two displacement mechanisms
front became relatively uniform. It is the blocking of water channels
that diverted the injected alkaline solution phase to the unswept The mechanisms of in situ W/O flows and of O/W emulsion flows
region of the model to improve the sweep efficiency. Fig. 8(c) shows in porous media are different and should be applied for different
the micromodel when the alkaline slug front reached the outlet reservoir conditions for enhanced heavy oil recovery by chemi-
and shows a relatively uniform oil saturation distribution over the cal flooding. Numerous experimental results by Ma (2005) and Liu
entire model. The alkaline solution reached almost every location (2006) indicate that the viscosity of a W/O emulsion varies from
inside the micromodel and improved the sweep efficiency to about 2000 to 20,000 mPa s, depending on the ratio of water/oil and on
90%. Fig. 8(d) shows the model after approximately one pore vol- the alkaline concentration in the system. An O/W emulsion has a
ume of alkaline solution injection. From the distribution of the much lower viscosity than a W/O emulsion because it tends to have
water phase (the color of the model), it is seen that the oil sat- the viscosity of the external phase, i.e., the water phase. An O/W
uration was still uniform and greatly reduced at the end of the emulsion is produced using alkalis and hydrophilic surfactants. The
displacement when compared with the model in Fig. 8(c). synergy of alkalis and the hydrophilic surfactant can reduce the
Fig. 9 shows pictures of the entire micromodel at different stages water and heavy oil IFT to an ultralow value. An O/W emulsion
of the A/S injection (0.20 wt% NaOH + 0.40 wt% Na2 CO3 + 450 mg/L can be created with a minor disturbance at the oil and water inter-
surfactant). Fig. 9(a) shows the oil saturation distribution after face. Numerous emulsification tests have shown that very gentle
waterflooding, and some water channels can be seen. In the early turning of a test tube that contains the above oil and water system
stage of the chemical injection, as shown in Fig. 9(b) and (c), the can make O/W emulsions. However, the W/O emulsion observed
sweep efficiency was improved by the injection of the A/S solution. in the micromodel displacements could not be easily formed in
The water channels disappeared in the region behind the displace- bottle tests, even when the oil and water phase were mixed by
ment front. By injecting an A/S slug, an O/W emulsion was formed vigorous hand shaking. A possible reason is that the oil was so vis-
in the pores, and the residual oil was mobilized by the O/W emul- cous that the oil and alkaline solution did not have good contact,
sion flow. After the injection of one PV of the chemical solution, whereas the alkaline solution and the oil in a porous medium can
as shown in Fig. 9(d), new water channels were created. In this have pore-level contact. It was also observed that a W/O emulsion
situation, the oil production declined rapidly, and the injection of can be easily generated in sandpack flood tests by injecting an alka-
additional A/S solution had a poor sweep efficiency. line slug (Ma, 2005). Many sandpack flood tests have shown that the
Water channeling is a common problem during waterflooding in situ-formed W/O emulsion can effectively block water channels,
in heavy oil reservoirs because of the high viscosity of heavy oils which leads to highly enhanced oil recovery. For some heavy oil
and the heterogeneity of oil reservoirs. To improve sweep efficiency recovery processes, the O/W emulsion mechanism can be applied
 M. Dong et al. / Particuology 10 (2012) 298–305 305

to improve heavy oil recovery by dispersing oil in the water phase. Chatzis, I., Morrow, N. R., & Lim, H. L. (1983). Magnitude and detailed struc-
In this case, residual oil is entrained in the water phase and flows ture of residual oil saturation. Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, 23,
311–326.
to the production well. Cooke, C. E., Jr., William, R. E., & Kolodzie, P. A. (1974). Oil recovery by alkaline
waterflooding. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 26, 1365–1374.
Dong, M., Liu, P., Zhang, L., & Zhu, Y. (1986). An improved model for interfacial activity
4. Conclusions of acidic oil/caustic system for alkaline flooding. In SPE 14855 presented at the
international meeting on petroleum engineering March 17–20, Beijing, China.
In alkaline flooding for enhanced heavy oil recovery, the alka- Jennings, H. Y., Jr., Johnson, C. E., Jr., & McAuliffe, C. D. (1974). A caustic
waterflooding process for heavy oils. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 26,
line solution can penetrate into heavy oil in porous media and
1344–1352.
form W/O emulsions. Because of the very high viscosity of the W/O Johnson, C. E., Jr. (1976). Status of caustic and emulsion methods. Journal of Petroleum
emulsion, the resistance to water flow in high-water-saturation Technology, 28, 85–92.
Liu, Q. (2006). Interfacial phenomena in enhanced heavy oil recovery by alkaline flood.
zones can be increased significantly to improve sweep efficiency
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan,
and oil recovery. When an alkaline/surfactant formula is used to Canada.
create an ultralow IFT and an O/W emulsion for a heavy oil, the Liu, Q., Dong, M., Asghari, K., & Tu, Y. (2007). Wettability alteration by magnesium
oil can be produced by the O/W emulsion flow mechanism. Each ion binding in heavy oil/brine/chemical/sand systems—Analysis of electrostatic
forces. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 59, 147–156.
of the two displacement processes can be designed to improve Liu, Q., Dong, M., Ma, S., & Tu, Y. (2007). Surfactant enhanced alkaline flooding for
heavy oil recovery in accordance with the different displacement Western Canadian heavy oil recovery. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical
mechanisms. and Engineering Aspects, 293, 63–71.
Liu, Q., Dong, M., Yue, X., & Hou, J. (2006). Synergy of alkali and surfactant in emul-
sification of heavy oil in brine. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and
Acknowledgements Engineering Aspects, 273, 219–228.
Ma, S. (2005). Enhanced heavy oil recovery by dilute alkaline flooding. Master thesis,
University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
The authors acknowledge the Petroleum Technology Research Ma, S., Dong, M., Li, Z., & Shirif, E. (2007). Evaluation of the effectiveness of chemical
Center (PTRC) in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and the Natural flooding using heterogeneous sandpack flood test. Journal of Petroleum Science
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for and Engineering, 55, 294–300.
McAuliffe, C. D. (1973a). Oil-in-water emulsions and their flow properties in porous
their financial support of this work. The authors thank Dr. I. Chatzis media. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 25, 727–733.
of the University of Waterloo for providing the glass micromodel McAuliffe, C. D. (1973b). Crude-oil-in-water emulsions to improve fluid flow in an
used in this study. oil reservoir. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 25, 721–726.
Wagner, O. R., & Leach, R. O. (1959). Improving oil displacement efficiency by wet-
tability adjustment. Petroleum Transactions, AIME, 216, 65–72.
References Wang, J., Dong, M., & Arhuoma, M. (2010). Experimental and numerical study of
improving heavy oil recovery by alkaline flooding in sandpacks. Journal of Cana-
Arhuoma, M., Dong, M., Yang, D., & Idem, R. (2009). Determination of water-in-oil dian Petroleum Technology, 49(3), 51–57.
emulsion viscosity in porous media. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Wasan, D. T., Shah, S. M., Chan, M., Sampath, K., & Shah, R. (1978). Obser-
48, 7092–7120. vations on emulsion stability and interfacial properties in improved
Chatterjee, J., & Wasan, D. T. (1998). A kinetic model for dynamic interfacial tension oil recovery by chemical flooding. American Chemical Society, 23(2),
variation in an acidic oil/alkali/surfactant system. Chemical Engineering Science, 705–727.
53(15), 2711–2725.