Ion Exchange With Clays in the Presence of Surfactant

Abstract

The transport of sodium and calcium through porous media in the presence of clays and surfactant has been calculated. The exchange of the cations with both the clays and the surfactant micelles is assumed to result entirely from electrostatic association. The results show that a system in which the preflood, slug, and drive have the same sodium and calcium concentration can have a significant increase in the calcium concentration in the surfactant bank and a significant decrease in calcium concentration in the drive because of ion exchange. A process with a salinity gradient design can have a decrease in calcium concentration in the surfactant bank compared with the injected slug because of ion exchange.