TY - GEN
T1 - Inclusion of variable characteristic length in microemulsion flash calculations
AU - Magzymov, D.
AU - Johns, R. T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © ECMOR 2020. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Recent developments in predicting microemulsion phase behavior for use in chemical flooding are based on the hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation (HLD) and net-average curvature (NAC) equation-of-state (EoS). The most advanced version of the HLD-NAC EoS assumes that the three-phase micelle characteristic length is constant as parameters like salinity and temperature vary. In this paper, we relax this assumption to improve the accuracy and thermodynamic consistency of these flash calculations. We introduce a variable characteristic length in the three-phase region based on experimental data that is monotonic with salinity or other formulation variables, such as temperature and pressure. The characteristic length at the boundary of the three-phase region is then used for flash calculations in the two-phase lobes for Winsor type II-/II+. The functional form of the characteristic length is made consistent with the Gibbs phase rule. The improved EoS can capture asymmetric phase behavior data around the optimum, whereas current HLD-NAC based models cannot. The variable characteristic length formulation also resolves the thermodynamic inconsistency of existing phase behavior models that give multiple solutions for the optimum. We show from experimental data and theory that the inverse of the characteristic length varies linearly with formulation variables. This important result means that it is easy to predict the characteristic length in the three-phase region, which also improves the estimation of surrounding two-phase lobes. This improved physical understanding of microemulsion phase behavior should greatly aid in the design of surfactant blends and improve recovery predictions in a chemical flooding simulator.
AB - Recent developments in predicting microemulsion phase behavior for use in chemical flooding are based on the hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation (HLD) and net-average curvature (NAC) equation-of-state (EoS). The most advanced version of the HLD-NAC EoS assumes that the three-phase micelle characteristic length is constant as parameters like salinity and temperature vary. In this paper, we relax this assumption to improve the accuracy and thermodynamic consistency of these flash calculations. We introduce a variable characteristic length in the three-phase region based on experimental data that is monotonic with salinity or other formulation variables, such as temperature and pressure. The characteristic length at the boundary of the three-phase region is then used for flash calculations in the two-phase lobes for Winsor type II-/II+. The functional form of the characteristic length is made consistent with the Gibbs phase rule. The improved EoS can capture asymmetric phase behavior data around the optimum, whereas current HLD-NAC based models cannot. The variable characteristic length formulation also resolves the thermodynamic inconsistency of existing phase behavior models that give multiple solutions for the optimum. We show from experimental data and theory that the inverse of the characteristic length varies linearly with formulation variables. This important result means that it is easy to predict the characteristic length in the three-phase region, which also improves the estimation of surrounding two-phase lobes. This improved physical understanding of microemulsion phase behavior should greatly aid in the design of surfactant blends and improve recovery predictions in a chemical flooding simulator.
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U2 - 10.3997/2214-4609.202035160
DO - 10.3997/2214-4609.202035160
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85099546483
T3 - ECMOR 2020 - 17th European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery
BT - ECMOR 2020 - 17th European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery
PB - European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, EAGE
T2 - 17th European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery, ECMOR 2020
Y2 - 14 September 2020 through 17 September 2020
ER -