Author(s)

Wenjun Xie, Ge Xu, Yancheng Zheng^*, Shining Chen, Zhuo Yang, Borui Li

College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China.

The surface modification of pore throat by adsorption of surfactants is thought to have a positive effect on water flooding in low and ultralow permeability reservoirs. In this paper, Gemini cationic surfactants, containing 12 and 16 carbon alkyl chains(ethanediyl-1,2-bis(dimethyl dodecyl ammonium bromide) and ethanediyl-1,2-bis(dimethyl cetyl ammonium bromide), referred to as GC₁₂ and GC₁₆) and hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) were used as modifying agents to investigate the effects of the surfactant concentration, adsorption time and temperature on static adsorption onto the surface of sandstone and silica nano particles (NPS). The results show that the equilibrium adsorption amount of GC₁₆ on sandstone and NPS is higher than that of GC₁₂ on sandstone and NPS with the same initial concentration of 0.225 mmol/L in solution at 45°C. It is found that the adsorption amounts of GC₁₂ and GC₁₆ decrease as the raise of temperature. The adsorption rate of surfactant on sandstone surface is slower than that of NPS. The equilibrium adsorption time of these surfactants on sandstone is 20 h, while the time of NPS is only 2 h. At 55°C, the static saturation absorption amount of GC₁₂ is 210.56 μmol/g on NPS and 117.67 μmol/g on sandstone, while the amounts of CTAB on sandstone and NPS under static conditions are 1.18 times and 1.46 times of GC₁₂, respectively. Considering the number of tail chain in a molecule of surfactant, the packing densities of Gemini surfactants on solid surface are higher than that of the single-tail surfactant (CTAB). Therefore, the adsorption rate and amount of surfactant are affected by the specific surface of solid particles, charged density, tail chain number and length of the cationic group.

Cationic Surfactants, Gemini Surfactants, Adsorption, Silica Nanoparticles, Sandstone

Xie, W. , Xu, G. , Zheng, Y. , Chen, S. , Yang, Z. and Li, B. (2018) Adsorption Properties of Gemini and Monomeric Cationic Surfactants on Sandstone and Silica Nanoparticles. Open Journal of Yangtze Oil and Gas, 3, 207-219. doi: 10.4236/ojogas.2018.33018.