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Updated: Sep 23, 2025

Enhanced Oil Recovery using a Combination of Biosurfactants
Published on: June 3, 2022
Systematic evaluation of petroleum sulfonate: polarity separation and the relationship between its structure and oil
Yawei Duan1, Youyi Zhu2, Jian Fan2
1Beijing Key Laboratory for Science and Application of Functional Molecular and Crystalline Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing 100083 China wjli_ustb@163.com.
Abstract:
Petroleum sulfonate is one of the most important surfactants in the tertiary oil recovery process. However, its complex composition significantly impedes its evaluation, and the relationship between its structure and oil recovery properties is still unclear. In this study, the actives of petroleum sulfonate are subdivided into seven components, a-g, with different polarities via column chromatography. The structural information of each component is fully characterized. Moreover, the relationship between the oil recovery properties and the structure of the separated components is systematically studied. The results reveal the average relative molecular mass in the range of 560-626, average alkyl side chain containing 36-40 carbon atoms and alkyl chain containing an average of 6 branched chains is the ideal structure for enhancing oil recovery properties. Furthermore, this study provides a reliable evaluation method and reveals the relationship between the structure and oil recovery properties of petroleum sulfonate.
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