ENORDET product range & applications

ENORDET* surfactants for enhanced oil recovery are a range of surfactants, such as alcohol alkoxy sulfates and internal olefin sulphonates.

The products range in physical properties from low viscosity liquids to pastes, depending on the % active concentration and the ENORDET surfactant type.

Specific ENORDET surfactant(s) need to be selected and matched to reservoir conditions (temperature; water salinity and divalent ion concentration; crude oil type) to achieve optimal enhanced oil recovery performance. 

The diagram shows how the ENORDET surfactants range covers the varying temperature and salinity conditions in reservoirs. There are broadly two groups within the ENORDET surfactants range:

• the sulfonates - higher temperature surfactants to be used in reservoirs from ambient temperature up to 140°C
• the sulfates - with more limited stability, these products are restricted to reservoirs below 60°C.  

For both groups, the structure of internal olefin and (for the alcohol based surfactants) the alcohol and alkoxy part of the molecule can be modified to optimise the surfactant to work at different reservoir salinities, as shown by the horizontal bars on the chart.

Individual ENORDET surfactant grades can be inter-blended to match a particular reservoir salinity, for example, to match to salinities that fall within gaps between the bars. Combinations of ENORDET surfactants work complementary.