Nagy R., Bartha L., Toth J., Vágo Á., 2014, Study on Characteristics of Micelles Formed by Surfactants and Polymer Mixtures for Enhanced Oil Recovery, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 36, 217-222.
The bio-degradable vegetable oil based nonionic surfactants are generally used in the oil and petrochemical industry. This publication considers two combinations of various surfactants applied in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The polymer-surfactants solutions prepared by mixtures of two types of nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant and a flow modifier type polymer used in various concentrations were studied. The physical properties of micelles formed in aqueous solution in terms of viscosity are measured by dynamic shear rate rheometer (DSR). The study was extended to measure the size of micelles formed in aqueous solution of various surfactants mixtures. The results obtained by dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique at different temperatures have been also presented. The influence of the surfactant composition on micelle size and the surface properties of the synthesized surfactants were also considered. As a results of the rheological measurement were demonstrated that higher viscosity of the surfactant solution was caused by the increased micelle size. The hydrodynamic radius was also calculated based on current measurements, and fitted well with the results. The size distribution of micelles formed in aqueous solution by different surfactant mixtures were examined as a function of temperature, and surfactant concentration.
