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Happy New Year 2024 **********************【A Decade of Great Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】Regular updates and summaries are available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum) *****************On December 24, 2023, China’s first batch of 10-ton capacity carbon dioxide-responsive alkylammonium surfactants was successfully developed. This achievement not only fills a gap in this field in China but also solves the world-class problem of the inability to intelligently control the interfacial activity of surfactants used in oil and gas field development. Tests have shown that all performance parameters of these activity-controllable alkylammonium surfactants meet international advanced standards, indicating that Sinopec maintains a leading position worldwide in the research and development of next-generation activity-controllable oil-displacing surfactants. Alkyl amines are difficult to produce in bulk due to their complex synthesis process and high costs. In 2022, the public market price for custom-made alkylamines was between 500,000 and 700,000 yuan per ton. To break this deadlock, building on China National Petroleum Corporation’s research project on \"the mechanism of regulating the properties of active and controllable surfactants,\" the Research Institute of Oil Exploration and Development of CNPC, Binhang Company of Dagang Oilfield, together with several universities such as Tianjin University, Nanjing Normal University, and Nanjing University, have joined forces to carry out independent innovation through the integration of industry, academia, research, and application, focusing on intelligent active and controllable surfactants as the subject of study. Building on the existing patent portfolio for the full-chain synthesis process of alkylammonium surfactants, the innovation team developed a new full-chain synthesis process for such surfactants and created 6 new long-chain alkylammonium products. They also independently developed technologies for the production of alkylammonium bicarbonates, petroleum sulfonates, and multi-component mixtures of naphthenic acids. Furthermore, they advanced the theory of intelligent control over the interfacial behavior of oil-displacing surfactants, and established a molecular dynamics model for \"carbon dioxide-responsive amine-based molecular switches\". The new generation of intelligent alkylammonium surfactants are capable of bidirectionally regulating the surface activity of oil displacement systems through carbon dioxide; they exhibit high activity under reservoir conditions and low activity at surface conditions. They possess intelligent functions such as spontaneous foaming and self-demulsification, and their key technical parameters are at the international advanced level. These surfactants open up new avenues for the development of CCUS-EOR projects in oil fields, for preventing gas migration during gas-driven recovery in low-permeability reservoirs, and for the efficient exploitation of heavy oil reservoirs. They also provide new support for improving the recovery rate of existing oil fields. To advance the industrialization of research achievements, Bin Gang Company of Dagang Oilfield, as a petroleum engineering technology service enterprise, assigned 10 expert professionals to form a dedicated task force. This team overcame 8 technical challenges associated with the large-scale production of actively controllable alkylamines, including difficulties in controlling synthesis temperature, insufficient stability of vacuum levels, and poor adjustment capabilities of the condensation system. At the same time, a pilot-scale production line was successfully established and put into operation; 5 batches of the synthetic product were produced, with a yield of over 90%, resulting in the acquisition of 10 tons of the target alkylamine product. The delivery of China’s first batch of independently developed ton-class products was successfully completed, marking a transition of these technological achievements from laboratory synthesis to industrial production. It is reported that the project has developed a complete set of production processes, and an intelligent control production line capable of mass production has been established. In the next one to two years, efforts will focus on conducting experiments at the Dagang Oil Field and the Liaohe Oil Field, with the aim of fully supporting the stable and increased production of these oil fields. The high-purity alkylamines, which possess independent intellectual property rights owned by China National Petroleum Corporation, have been produced domestically. This not only provides strong support for China National Petroleum Corporation in expanding its market presence for alkylamines internationally, but it also promotes technological advancements and industrial upgrading in the development of domestic oil and gas fields.