Effect of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Metal Oxide Nanoparticles on the Performance of Xanthan Gum Solutions for Heavy Oil Recovery

Recent studies revealed higher polymer flooding performance upon adding metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) to acrylamide-based polymers during heavy oil recovery. The current study considers the effect of TiO(2), Al(2)O(3), in-situ prepared Fe(OH)(3) and surface-modified SiO(2) NPs on the performance of xanthan gum (XG) solutions to enhance heavy oil recovery. Surface modification of the SiO(2) NPs was achieved by chemical grafting with 3-(methacryloyloxy)propyl]trimethoxysilane (MPS) and octyltriethoxysilane (OTES). The nanopolymer sols were characterized by their rheological properties and ζ-potential measurements. The efficiency of the nanopolymer sols in displacing oil was assessed using a linear sand-pack at 25 °C and two salinities (0.3 wt % and 1.0 wt % NaCl). The ζ-potential measurements showed that the NP dispersions in deionized (DI) water are unstable, but their colloidal stability improved in presence of XG. The addition of unmodified and modified SiO(2) NPs increased the viscosity of the XG solution at all salinities. However, the high XG adsorption onto the surface of Fe(OH)(3), Al(2)O(3), and TiO(2) NPs reduced the viscosity of the XG solution. Also, the NPs increased the cumulative oil recovery between 3% and 9%, and between 1% and 5% at 0 wt % and 0.3 wt % NaCl, respectively. At 1.0 wt % NaCl, the NPs reduced oil recovery by XG solution between 5% and 12%, except for Fe(OH)(3) and TiO(2) NPs. These NPs increased the oil recovery between 2% and 3% by virtue of reduced polymer adsorption caused by the alkalinity of the Fe(OH)(3) and TiO(2) nanopolymer sols.