Effect of Molecular Structure on Oil Displacement Performance of Betaine Surfactant

doi:10.12422/j.issn.1006-396X.2025.01.002

Abstract

Abstract:

Betaine surfactants have been widely used as oil displacement agents for tertiary oil recovery due to their unique amphiphilic structure,high surface activity,low critical micelle concentration and good emulsification performance.To investigate the effect of alkyl carbon chain number on the chemical flooding performance of betaine surfactants,5 kinds of betaine solutions with alkyl carbon chain number (n) of 12,14,16,18 and 20 were selected,and their interfacial tension and emulsification properties were tested.The parameters of radial distribution,density distribution,mean azimuth shift,rotation radius and binding energy were analyzed by using MS software，and conducted indoor simulated oil displacement experiments.The results show that with the increase of the number of carbon atoms of long alkyl chain,the oil displacement performance of surfactants was first enhanced and then weakened,and the chemical displacement performance of C₁₆HBC surfactants in betaine was the best.The effects of betaine solution with different alkyl carbon chain number on its energy,radial distribution,density distribution, mean orientation shift, binding energy and other parameters were determined by molecular simulation studies.Simulation oil displacement experiments verified that C₁₆HBC surfactant could significantly improve oil recovery by 20.7%.

Key words: Betaine surfactant, Alkyl carbon chain number, Recovery efficiency, Molecular dynamics

摘要：

甜菜碱表面活性剂因具有独特的两亲性结构、较高的表面活性、较低的临界胶束浓度以及良好的乳化性能等特点，被作为油田三次采油驱油剂而得到广泛的应用，且其提高采收率效果较好。为探究烷基链碳数（n）对甜菜碱表面活性剂化学驱性能的影响，选取烷基链碳数分别为12、14、16、18、20的5种甜菜碱溶液，对其进行了界面张力与乳化性能的测试；利用MS软件、分子动力学模拟结果，分析了其径向分布、密度分布、均方位移、结合能等参数，并进行了室内模拟驱油实验。结果表明，随着烷基链碳数的增加，表面活性剂的驱油性能先增强后减弱，甜菜碱中C₁₆HBC表面活性剂的化学驱性能最佳；通过分子模拟研究确定了不同烷基链碳数甜菜碱溶液对其能量、径向分布、密度分布、均方位移、结合能等参数的影响；C₁₆HBC表面活性剂能较大幅度地提高原油采收率，采收率提高幅度达20.7%。

关键词: 甜菜碱表面活性剂, 烷基链碳数, 采收率, 分子动力学

CLC Number:

TE39

Shijun CHEN, Zitong GUO, Yang GAO, Pengcheng WANG, Rudan XIAO. Effect of Molecular Structure on Oil Displacement Performance of Betaine Surfactant[J]. Journal of Petrochemical Universities, 2025, 38(1): 11-18.

陈世军, 郭姿彤, 高阳, 王鹏程, 肖茹丹. 分子结构对甜菜碱表面活性剂驱油性能的影响[J]. 石油化工高等学校学报, 2025, 38(1): 11-18.

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URL: https://journal.lnpu.edu.cn/syhg/EN/10.12422/j.issn.1006-396X.2025.01.002

https://journal.lnpu.edu.cn/syhg/EN/Y2025/V38/I1/11

Figures/Tables 14

Fig.1 Long chain betaine structural formula

Table 1 Parameter of experimental core foundation physical properties

岩心编号	气测渗透率/mD	岩心长度/cm	岩心直径/cm	岩心孔隙度/%
1	31.00	4.530	2.5	21.49
2	31.00	4.520	2.5	21.14
3	31.00	4.531	2.5	21.23
4	31.00	4.522	2.5	21.37
5	31.00	4.531	2.5	21.33

Fig.2 The variation curve of interfacial tension of betaine solution with time

Fig.3 The variation curve of interfacial tension of betaine solution with alkyl chain carbon number

Fig.4 The curve of dehydration rate of betaine solution with time

Fig.5 The dehydration rate of betaine solution varies with the carbon number of alkyl chain

Fig.6 Initial model of simulation system

Fig.7 Molecular morphology of alkyl hydroxysulfobetaine at the oil-water interface

Fig.8 Density distribution of water/betaine surfactant system in equilibrium state

Fig.9 MSD curves of different surfactant molecules

Table 2 Diffusivity of different surfactant molecules

表面活性剂	扩散系数/(nm²·ps^-1)
C₁₂HBC	0.092 455
C₁₄HBC	0.072 468
C₁₆HBC	0.064 186
C₁₈HBC	0.078 882
C₂₀HBC	0.125 227

Fig.10 The radial distribution curves of differentsurfactant molecules

Fig.11 Binding energy of surfactant with water or oil

Table 3 Effects of surfactants on displacement oil recovery

岩心编号	溶液	采收率/%		采收率提高幅度/%
岩心编号	溶液	水驱	表面活性剂驱	采收率提高幅度/%
1	C₁₂HBC	51.7	62.1	10.4
2	C₁₄HBC	52.3	64.6	12.3
3	C₁₆HBC	51.4	72.1	20.7
4	C₁₈HBC	51.6	68.9	17.3
5	C₂₀HBC	52.1	67.8	15.7

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