Tailoring Alkoxylation of Flowback Aid Surfactants for Maximum Efficiency

In this study, a novel surfactant for flowback aid application was developed based on an optimization of well-known non-ionic surfactants. The objective was to meet intrinsic surfactant properties, such as high cloud point (CP), low surface tension (ST), adequate contact angle (CA) and low critical micelle concentration (CMC). In addition to the essential physical-chemical properties, improvement in fluid recovery and emulsion compatibility were also targeted. The surfactants were optimized by tailoring the hydrophilic head through controlled introduction of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide into different hydrophobic chains. Surface tension measurements were made with a Dataphysics Instruments model OCA-15. Contact angles were measured using the sessile-drop method. The CMC concentration and cloud point were also conducted for physical chemical characterization. For the fluid recovery evaluation, flowback solutions were poured through 150g of 60/150 mesh- dry porous media contained in a 7 cm-inner-diameter, 9.5- cm-long column. Emulsion compatibility tests were also carried out using different proportions of crude oil and brine. This paper evaluates various flowback additives in hydraulic fracturing applications between linear and branched alkoxylated surfactants. High cloud point enables a wide range of temperature applications and an increase in EO content showed an increase in cloud point values, contrary to PO effect. Nevertheless, CMC measurements showed that for an optimum scenario, EO addition should not be high, because undesired increases in CMC values may occur, which will affect the final surfactant dosage needed. All flowback aids demonstrated low surface tension as expected (approximately below 32 mN/m), but each being different in terms of surface wettability (contact angle), which could not be correlated with surfactant structure. Fluid recovery and kinetics of emulsion breakage increased significantly with different alkoxylation adjustments. For the new flowback aid developed, the fluid recovery was improved when compared against standard surfactants. Additionally, significant improvement was also found during emulsion breakage evaluation in terms of superior kinetics, final breakage, and water quality. This work provided a better understanding of how EO/PO affects intrinsic surfactant properties and enabled to find a surfactant that offers several benefits in terms of fluid recovery and non-emulsification of crude oil and water.