NUMERICAL STUDY OF ENHANCED OIL-RECOVERY USING SURFACTANTS

The analysis of enhanced oil recovery using surfactants is presented h ere. Surfactants lower the surface tension between oil and water and h ence the capillary resistance to flow. The mathematical description of this problem requires modelling of multi-phase flow in a porous mediu m. A pressure-based formulation has been used in the present study. Th e governing partial differential equations have been solved by a finit e difference method. Both Newtonian and non-Newtonian (shear thinning) behaviour of oil are considered. Results clearly show an improvement in oil recovery in the presence of surfactant. A study of the ideal ca se where surface tension is reduced to zero shows that oil recovery ca n be very high.