Research advances of microbial surfactants in enhanced oil recovery

Abstract:

Microbial surfactants (biosurfactants) are diverse and have rich functions, demonstrating broad application prospects in enhanced oil recovery. This article provides an overview of the yields, temperature and salt tolerance, critical micelle concentrations, micelle diameters, adsorption capacity, wettability, oil displacement performance, and field applications of oil-displacing biosurfactants such as rhamnolipid, sophorolipid, and lipopeptides. In addition, this article analyzes the challenges in application costs, application scenarios, and oil displacement mechanisms, and proposes the key problems to be addressed and future development directions.

Key words:enhanced oil recovery;biosurfactants;oil displacement;field test