Effect of Ionic Strength on Oil⁃Water Interfacial Tension of Internal Olefin Sulfonate Surfactants

doi:10.12422/j.issn.1672-6952.2026.03.008

Abstract

Abstract:

As a new type of surfactant for oil displacement, internal olefin sulfonates have attracted much attention in oil field in recent years. As tertiary oil recovery technology is applied to high?temperature and high?salt reservoirs, the problem of temperature resistance and salt resistance of surfactant emerges. The rotating drop method was adopted to investigate the effects of ionic strength of Na? and Ca2? on the oil?water interfacial tension reduction performance of two internal olefin sulfonates (A?18, I?20) with different degrees of branching. The experimental results show that the internal olefin sulfonates surfactants generally have good salt resistance. Hydrophobic alkyl branching can increase the interfacial activity of surfactants. The active fractions in crude oil can be mixed and adsorbed with surfactant molecules at the interface, which is an important factor governing the interfacial performance. The increase of ionic strength can weaken the electrostatic repulsion among surfactant molecules and increase the adsorption capacity of surfactants at the interface. Moreover, divalent calcium ions exhibit stronger molecular aggregation ability than monovalent sodium ions, further reducing the oil?water interfacial tension at high mass fraction.

Key words: Internal olefin sulfonates, High temperature and high salt reservoir, Ionic strength, Interfacial tension, Emulsification

摘要：

内烯烃磺酸盐作为一种新型驱油用表面活性剂，近年来备受油田现场关注，随着三次采油技术在高温高盐油藏的应用，表面活性剂的耐温抗盐性问题也伴随而来。采用旋转滴法考察了Na⁺、Ca²⁺的离子强度对支链化程度不同的两种内烯烃磺酸盐（A?18、I?20）降低油水界面张力的影响。结果表明，内烯烃磺酸盐表面活性剂普遍具有较好的抗盐性，疏水烷基支链化可以增加表面活性剂的界面活性，原油中的活性组分可以与表面活性剂分子在界面上混合吸附，是主导界面性能的重要因素；离子强度的升高可以削弱分子间静电斥力，增加界面上表面活性剂的吸附量；相较于Na⁺，Ca²⁺具备更好的分子集合能力，高质量分数下会进一步降低油水界面张力。

关键词: 内烯烃磺酸盐, 高温高盐油藏, 离子强度, 界面张力, 乳化

CLC Number:

TE832

Jiaxing LI, Yang LI, Yihe XU, Ziyang WU, Jiaxin WANG, Xiang LI, Qi SUN. Effect of Ionic Strength on Oil⁃Water Interfacial Tension of Internal Olefin Sulfonate Surfactants[J]. Journal of Liaoning Petrochemical University, 2026, 46(3): 59-65.

李家兴, 李洋, 徐一荷, 吴自洋, 王佳欣, 李想, 孙琦. 离子强度对内烯烃磺酸盐表面活性剂油水界面张力的影响[J]. 辽宁石油化工大学学报, 2026, 46(3): 59-65.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig.1 Structural formula of internal olefin sulfonates sodium salt

Fig.2 Salt resistance characterization of internal olefin sulfonate to Na?

Fig.3 The steady?state value of interfacial tension between olefin sulfonates and a series of n?alkanes

Fig.4 The interfacial tensions between internal olefin sulfonates and n?decane as well as Shengli crude oil, respectively

Fig.5 Salt resistance characterization of internal olefin sulfonate against Ca2?

Fig.6 The interfacial tension between A?18/I?20 and n?decane at different Ca2+ mass fractions

Fig.7 Effects of different Ca2? mass fractions on interfacial tension between two internal olefin sulfonates and Shengli crude oil

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