Cargando…

Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity

Laboratory experiments have shown higher oil recovery with nanoparticle (NPs) flooding. Accordingly, many studies have investigated the nanoparticle-aided sweep efficiency of the injection fluid. The change in wettability and the reduction of the interfacial tension (IFT) are the two most proposed e...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bila, Alberto, Torsæter, Ole
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8002960/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33803521
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11030765
_version_ 1783671576842993664
author Bila, Alberto
Torsæter, Ole
author_facet Bila, Alberto
Torsæter, Ole
author_sort Bila, Alberto
collection PubMed
description Laboratory experiments have shown higher oil recovery with nanoparticle (NPs) flooding. Accordingly, many studies have investigated the nanoparticle-aided sweep efficiency of the injection fluid. The change in wettability and the reduction of the interfacial tension (IFT) are the two most proposed enhanced oil recovery (EOR) mechanisms of nanoparticles. Nevertheless, gaps still exist in terms of understanding the interactions induced by NPs that pave way for the mobilization of oil. This work investigated four types of polymer-coated silica NPs for oil recovery under harsh reservoir conditions of high temperature (60 [Formula: see text] C) and salinity (38,380 ppm). Flooding experiments were conducted on neutral-wet core plugs in tertiary recovery mode. Nanoparticles were diluted to 0.1 wt.% concentration with seawater. The nano-aided sweep efficiency was studied via IFT and imbibition tests, and by examining the displacement pressure behavior. Flooding tests indicated incremental oil recovery between 1.51 and 6.13% of the original oil in place (OOIP). The oil sweep efficiency was affected by the reduction in core’s permeability induced by the aggregation/agglomeration of NPs in the pores. Different types of mechanisms, such as reduction in IFT, generation of in-situ emulsion, microscopic flow diversion and alteration of wettability, together, can explain the nano-EOR effect. However, it was found that the change in the rock wettability to more water-wet condition seemed to govern the sweeping efficiency. These experimental results are valuable addition to the data bank on the application of novel NPs injection in porous media and aid to understand the EOR mechanisms associated with the application of polymer-coated silica nanoparticles.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8002960
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-80029602021-03-28 Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity Bila, Alberto Torsæter, Ole Nanomaterials (Basel) Article Laboratory experiments have shown higher oil recovery with nanoparticle (NPs) flooding. Accordingly, many studies have investigated the nanoparticle-aided sweep efficiency of the injection fluid. The change in wettability and the reduction of the interfacial tension (IFT) are the two most proposed enhanced oil recovery (EOR) mechanisms of nanoparticles. Nevertheless, gaps still exist in terms of understanding the interactions induced by NPs that pave way for the mobilization of oil. This work investigated four types of polymer-coated silica NPs for oil recovery under harsh reservoir conditions of high temperature (60 [Formula: see text] C) and salinity (38,380 ppm). Flooding experiments were conducted on neutral-wet core plugs in tertiary recovery mode. Nanoparticles were diluted to 0.1 wt.% concentration with seawater. The nano-aided sweep efficiency was studied via IFT and imbibition tests, and by examining the displacement pressure behavior. Flooding tests indicated incremental oil recovery between 1.51 and 6.13% of the original oil in place (OOIP). The oil sweep efficiency was affected by the reduction in core’s permeability induced by the aggregation/agglomeration of NPs in the pores. Different types of mechanisms, such as reduction in IFT, generation of in-situ emulsion, microscopic flow diversion and alteration of wettability, together, can explain the nano-EOR effect. However, it was found that the change in the rock wettability to more water-wet condition seemed to govern the sweeping efficiency. These experimental results are valuable addition to the data bank on the application of novel NPs injection in porous media and aid to understand the EOR mechanisms associated with the application of polymer-coated silica nanoparticles. MDPI 2021-03-18 /pmc/articles/PMC8002960/ /pubmed/33803521 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11030765 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ).
spellingShingle Article
Bila, Alberto
Torsæter, Ole
Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity
title Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity
title_full Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity
title_fullStr Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity
title_full_unstemmed Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity
title_short Experimental Investigation of Polymer-Coated Silica Nanoparticles for EOR under Harsh Reservoir Conditions of High Temperature and Salinity
title_sort experimental investigation of polymer-coated silica nanoparticles for eor under harsh reservoir conditions of high temperature and salinity
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8002960/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33803521
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11030765
work_keys_str_mv AT bilaalberto experimentalinvestigationofpolymercoatedsilicananoparticlesforeorunderharshreservoirconditionsofhightemperatureandsalinity
AT torsæterole experimentalinvestigationofpolymercoatedsilicananoparticlesforeorunderharshreservoirconditionsofhightemperatureandsalinity