Effect of salinity on the IFT between aqueous surfactant solution and crude oil

The effect of salts and different surfactants on the equilibrium as well as dynamic interfacial tension (DIFT) between crude oil and water was investigated. Three different types of surfactants with identical hydrophobic chain length C-12: Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate (SLES), Dodecyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide (DTAB), Polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether (C12E23) were used in this study. SLES shows better synergism of salt and surfactant mixture amongst the surfactants studied. The order of synergism of salts with the surfactant observed was MgCl2>CaCl2> NaCl. The results obtained from partition coefficient study show that the addition of salts favours the partition of surfactants into the oil phase hence reduce IFT more effectively. DIFT results reveal that, salt accelerates the surfactant migration towards the interface, hence, reducing the t(*) value.