Biosurfactant Effectiveness in Stabilizing Saudi Arabian Crude Oil-in-Water Nanoemulsions under Reservoir-Like Conditions for EOR Applications

Maximizing the recovery of trapped crude oil, which is estimated to be around the double of the amount recovered during the primary and the secondary recovery processes, is an important task for all oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia. A number of traditional tertiary methods such as thermal, gas and chemical flooding have been utilized for the enhancement of oil recovery; however, these methods are energy intensive, inefficient or cause harmful impacts on environment. Biosurfactants, which are produced from clean and sustainable sources, biodegradable and non-toxic, have emerged as a green technology for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) with no adverse effects on environment. Additionally, biosurfactants are expected to display superior performance relative to chemical emulsifiers due to their efficacy and tolerance to the harsh reservoir conditions such as high salinity, high temperature and extreme pH. Thus, biosurfactants have the potential to enhance the recovery of the trapped oil through the production of stable crude oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsions. However, information on the biosurfactant efficacy in the production and stabilization of O/W nanoemulsions is still greatly lacking, particularly for local crude oil. Thus, the use of biosurfactants for the production and stabilization of Saudi Arabian crude oil-in-water (SA O/W) nanoemulsions under oil reservoir-like conditions (i.e., high temperature, high salinity and extreme pH) will be thoroughly investigated in this proposed project. The characteristics (i.e., mean droplet size, charge, IFT and composition) of the SA O/W nanoemulsions under reservoir-like conditions will be determined and correlated to the emulsion stability. Additionally, the flow (rheological) properties of the SA O/W nanoemulsions will be studied under reservoir-like conditions; the stability of the SA O/W nanoemulsions will be correlated to their rheological properties. To the best of our knowledge, these proposed research themes have not yet been tackled in the published literature. Thus, we believe that this proposed project is a crucial initial step towards the utilization of environmentally friendly, sustainable and potentially superior bioemulsifiers (i.e., biosurfactants) for the enhancement of Saudi Arabian crude oil recovery.