Remoção de frações de óleo leve e pesado de rocha calcária através de sistemas microemulsionados

Abstract

In this research the removal of light and heavy oil from disintegrated limestone was investigated with use of microemulsions. These chemical systems were composed by surfactant, cosurfactant, oil phase and aqueous phase. In the studied systems, three points in the water -rich microemulsion region of the phase diagrams were used in oil removal experiments. These microemulsion systems were characterized to evaluate the influence of particle size, surface tension, density and viscosity in micellar stability and to understand how the physical properties can influence the oil recovery process. The limestone rock sample was characterized by thermogravimetry, BET area, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence. After preparation, the rock was placed in contact with light and heavy oil solutions to allow oil adsorption. The removal tests were performed to evaluate the influence of contact time (1 minute, 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 120 minutes), the concentration of active matter (20, 30 and 40 %), different cosurfactants and different oil phases. For the heavy oil, the best result was on SME 1, with 20 % of active matter, 1 minute of contact time, with efficiency of 93,33 %. For the light oil, also the SME 1, with 20 % of active matter, 120 minutes of contact time, with 62,38 % of efficiency. From the obtained results, it was possible to conclude that microemulsions can be considered as efficient chemical systems for oil removal from limestone formations