Investigation of Wettability Alteration in EOR Process

The goal of this book is to change the wettability of a carbonate rock from oil wet towards water-wet. To overcome this issue a new amino acid-based surfactant dodecanoyl-alanine (2-Dodecanaamidopropanoic acid) was synthesized and investigation of wettability alteration in EOR process was conducted. As the wettability changes to water-wet condition the residual oil saturation (Sor) will reduce. Wettability alteration was measured based on the contact angle method. It was thought that the change in wettability would help to recover more oil during secondary surfactant flood as compared to regular water flood. Results show that the Dodecanoyl. alanine surfactant alters wettability of carbonate rocks from oil-wet to water-wet, by decreasing the contact angel about 70.92 degree and finally, by using Dodecanoyl. alanine surfactant recovery improved by 56%.