Synthesis of N‐(3‐Oxapropanoxyl)dodecanamide and its Application in Surfactant‐Polymer Flooding

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Abstract
Alkali‐surfactant‐polymer (ASP) flooding has been considered to be one of the useful tertiary oil recovery techniques. However, field tests in China have revealed that serious side effects may occur due to using alkali. Thus alkali‐free SP flooding is more favorable in China. Unfortunately, surfactants effective in ASP flooding are usually ineffective in the absence of alkali and new surfactants need to be designed. In this paper N‐(3‐Oxapropanoxyl)dodecanamide as a pure compound and a mixture of homologues with narrow EO number distribution, synthesized by the reaction of lauroyl chloride with diglycolamine and addition of one ethylene oxide to coconut monoethanolamide respectively, are examined for their adaptability in SP flooding. It is found that, when mixed with betaines, both products can reduce Daqing crude oil/connate water interfacial tension to a magnitude of 10−3–10−4 mNm−1 at 45 °C in a wide surfactant concentration range, 0.01–0.5 wt%, and oil displacement tests using natural cores indicates that a tertiary oil recovery of 18.6 ± 0.4% OOIP can be achieved by SP flooding with the N‐(3‐Oxapropanoxyl)dodecanamide as the main surfactant without adding any alkaline agent and neutral electrolyte. N‐(3‐Oxapropanoxyl)dodecanamide, as a nonionic surfactant without a cloud point and producible industrially from renewable materials, is an ideal surfactant for SP flooding in the absence of an alkaline agent.

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