Reservoir Simulation of Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Palm Oil–Based Surfactants
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Abstract
The oil and gas industry faces persistent challenges in recovering residual hydrocarbons from mature reservoirs, where conventional primary and secondary recovery methods leave a significant portion of oil trapped due to capillary forces and unfavorable fluid–rock interactions. Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), particularly surfactant flooding, has emerged as a viable solution, with growing interest in sustainable alternatives such as palm oil–based methyl ester sulfonate (MES). However, existing studies often examine surfactant performance in isolation, with limited integration between laboratory experiments and reservoir simulation, and insufficient analysis of the combined effects of surfactant concentration and oil properties such as API gravity. This study addresses these gaps by developing a reservoir simulation model validated against laboratory core data to evaluate MES surfactant performance. The methodology involves constructing a radial grid-based reservoir model, incorporating rock and fluid properties, and simulating surfactant injection at varying concentrations and oil API conditions. The results show strong agreement between laboratory and simulation outputs, with minimal error in oil-in-place and recovery factor. Surfactant flooding significantly improves recovery compared to waterflooding, achieving recovery factors above 65%. The analysis identifies an optimal surfactant concentration range of approximately 1.8% to 2.0%, beyond which performance stabilizes or slightly declines. Furthermore, oil specific gravity strongly influences recovery, with higher API oils achieving substantially higher recovery factors. These findings confirm that MES surfactant is effective in enhancing oil recovery when properly optimized. The study concludes that integrating laboratory validation with reservoir simulation provides a reliable framework for optimizing sustainable surfactant-based EOR strategies in mature reservoirs.
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