<![CDATA[Microemulsion formation in surfactant solution has a major influence on the success of chemical injection techniques, and is one of the enhanced oil recovery methods. Its transparent and translucent homogenous mixtures of oil and water in the presence of surfactant have an ability to displace the remaining oil in the reservoir by reducing interfacial tension between oil and water. In this study, the effect of surfactant solution salinity on the formation of microemulsion and its mechanism to reduce the interfacial tension between water and oil from “X” oil field in Central Sumatera were carried out through compatibility observation, phase behaviour test and interfacial tension measurements in a laboratory. The results showed that microemulsion formation depends on the salinity of aqueous phase associated with different surfactant solubility by altering the polar area of surfactant. The optimum salinity was obtained with the addition of 0.65% Na2CO3 in which microemulsion was formed and the solubilization ratio of oil and water were equally high. At this condition the ultralow interfacial tension was around 10-3 dyne/cm and enabled improved oil recovery in mature oil fields after waterflooding]]>
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