Synthesis of Didodecylmethylcarboxyl Betaine and Its Application in Surfactant–Polymer Flooding

Enhanced crude oil recovery by chemical flooding has been a main measure for postponing the overall decline of crude oil output in China, and surfactant-polymer (SP) flooding may replace alkali-surfactant-polymer flooding in the future for avoiding the undesired effects of using alkali. In this paper the synthesis of a surfactant with a large hydrophobe, didodecylmethylcarboxyl betaine (diC₁₂B), and its adaptability in SP flooding were investigated. The results show that diC₁₂B can be synthesized by reaction of didodecylmethyl amine, a product commercially available, with chloroacetic acid in the presence of NaOH, with a resulting yield as high as 80?wt% under appropriate conditions. With double dodecyl chain diC₁₂B is highly surface active as displayed by its low CMC, 3.7?×?10^?6?mol?L^?1, low ??_CMC, 27?mNm^?1, as well as high adsorption and small cross section area (??0.25?nm²) at both air/water and oil/water interfaces at 25?°C. By mixing with conventional hydrophilic surfactants diC₁₂B can be well dissolved in Daqing connate water and reduce the Daqing crude oil/connate water interfacial tension to about 10^?3?mN?m^?1 at 45?°C in a wide total surfactant concentration range, from 0.01 to 0.5 wt%. And a tertiary oil recovery, 18?±?1.5?% OOIP, can been achieved by SP flooding using natural cores without adding any alkaline agent or neutral electrolyte. DiC₁₂B seems thus to be a good surfactant for enhanced oil recovery by SP flooding.