Research Progress of Chemical Flooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Dear Colleagues,

Chemical flooding for enhanced oil recovery (cEOR) is one of the most deployable and extensively researched EOR technologies for improving hydrocarbon extraction from reservoirs at all stages of production. Traditionally, researchers have focused more on the development of chemical reagents, including surfactants, polymers, and alkaline to either reduce the oil–water interfacial tension or to improve the displacing–displaced phase mobility ratio. Major advances have resulted from designing more efficient surfactants, increasing oil–water interactions, and extending the applicability of polymers to more severe reservoir conditions, as well as through clever process design. Other fronts aim at modifying other interfacial mechanisms not limited to fluid–rock interactions, e.g., wettability and fluid–fluid dynamic interactions, and interfacial rheology. In addition, more comprehensive approaches in recent times have highlighted the importance of better understanding reservoir properties to enable the customization of chemical composition, even on the scale of a few parts per million, for better performance. Nanotechnology and bio-based chemicals are associated with breakthrough recoveries from less conventional reserves, keeping an environmentally design approach in mind. Overall, research has continued in the direction of improving chemical flooding techniques so as to make them more technically and commercially viable beyond pilot tests.

Articles covering research on new chemistries, mechanisms and flooding designs are welcome. In addition, simulation, pilot, and field-wide studies demonstrating the value of new approaches are encouraged. This Special Issue concentrates on progress attained in cEOR that offers a new window of opportunity to deploy cEOR technologies.

Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos L. Santos
Prof. Dr. Vladimir Alvarado
Guest Editors

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• alkalis
• surfactants
• polymers
• chemical blends
• adjusted water chemistry
• interfacial dynamics
• interfacial rheology
• wettability alteration
• interfacial tension
• nanotechnology
• bio-based chemicals reagents
• techno-economic viability
• foams
• field projects