The Development of Palm Methyl Ester Sulfonic Acid (MESA) To Increase Oil Well Recovery

Surfactant plays important role in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in reducing interfacial tension (IFT) between brine and oil up to 10-4-10-6 dyne/cm. Surfactant structure allows oil and water mixed, so oil which trapped between brine can be produced from well and increase the oil well productivity. Palm Methyl Ester Sulfonic Acid (MESA) is produced from the reaction between palm olein methyl ester and SO3 gas as reactant in Single Tube Falling Film Reactor (STFR). Methyl Ester Sulfonic Acid (MESA) is an intermediate product of Surfactant Methyl Ester Sulfonate (MES) which have many various application in personal care, toiletries products, and for EOR. Palm oil as the largest vegetable oil produced in world play an important role in human life as a raw material of oleochemical. Palm olein are renewable resources, environmentally friendly, and rich of fatty acid of C16 and C18 which has good detergency. This study was done in three stages which were analysis of palm olein, production and analysis of palm olein methyl ester, and sulfonation process of palm olein methyl ester. MESA is produced by using SO3 gas in STFR at temperatures of 70, 90, and 110oC and sulfonation time of 30, 60, and 90 minutes. In the interval 30-90 minutes long sulphonated process, the active matter and the acid value of MESA increased linearly with increasing of sulfonation time. In the meantime, IFT between brine and oil decreases with increasing of sulfonation time. MESA can reduce IFT from 30 dyne/cm to 2.99 dyne/cm.