Preparation and characterization of the octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) modified sphingan WL gum as novel biopolymeric surfactants.

Combining polymer and surfactant in one agent namely polymeric surfactants with both high viscosity and surface activity has become a viable alternative for the traditional enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. With the purpose of developing new polymeric surfactants, the biopolymer flooding agent sphingan WL gum was modified by octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) through the esterification reaction. The effects of molecular weight (MW) of WL and the OSA: WL ratio on the properties of the products were investigated.