©2002 Marcel Dekker, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of Marcel Dekker, Inc. MARCEL DEKKER, INC. • 270 MADISON AVENUE • NEW YORK, NY 10016 STUDYING THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN AN ARABIAN HEAVY CRUDE OIL AND ALKALINE SOLUTIONS A. Elkamel, * T. Al-Sahhaf, and A. Suttar Ahmed Department of Chemical Engineering, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait ABSTRACT An experimental study to examine the effectiveness of alkaline flooding for the recovery of an Arabian heavy crude oil is presented. The interfacial tension (IFT) behavior of crude oil/alkali systems over a wide range of parameters (pressure, temperature, alkali concentration and time) was studied. These alkaline reagents react with the acidic species in crude oil to form surface-active soaps in-situ. This leads to a lowering of interfacial tension (IFT) and subsequently the mobilization of residual oil. The equilibrium IFTs obtained through alkaline flooding are compared with the IFTs when a synthetic surfactant (dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid sodium salt) is used in EOR recovery. A mathematical model repre- senting the complete chemistry of the transient process is also presented. The model consists of a set of differential equations describing reactions, diffusion, and adsorption at the oil/alkaline solution interface. The kinetic parameters in 789 DOI: 10.1081/LFT-120003713 1091-6466 (Print); 1532-2459 (Online) Copyright & 2002 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol. 20, Nos. 7 & 8, pp. 789–807, 2002 *E-mail: elkamel@kuc01.kuniv.edu.kw