Alcohol ethoxysulfates, foaming

Alcohol ethoxysulfates have been used in field tests as nitrogen (177) and carbon dioxide (178) foaming agents. Field use of alcohol ethoxysulfates is restricted to low temperature formations owing to its limited hydrolytic stabihty at low pH and elevated temperature (179). It has been reported that some foams can reduce residual oil saturation, not by oil displacement, but by emulsification and imbibition of the oil into the foam (180). 

Several surfactants were studied in ambient-pressure foam tests, including alcohol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxysulfates, alcohol ethoxyethylsulfonates, and alcohol ethoxyglycerylsuUbnates [210]. Surfactants that performed well in the 1-atm foaming experiment were also good foaming agents in site cell and core flood experiments performed in the presence of CO2 and reservoir fluids under realistic reservoir temperature and pressure conditions. 

Alkyl ether sulfates, also called alcohol ethoxysulfates, are prepared by addition of one to four oxyethylene groups to an alcohol which is then sulfated. Oxyethylation enhances water solubility and foaming over the analogous alcohol sulfate, giving a product useful in shampoos and in liquid and powdered detergents. The raw material for these products can be either natural fatty alcohols or primary or secondary synthetic alcohols, usually of C12-C18 chain length. The analogous alkylphenol ether sulfates are found in industrial applications. Ether sulfates are not as sensitive to water hardness as are other anionic surfactants. 

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