Enhancing foam stability in porous media by applying nanoparticles

Wang, Shengbo; Chen, Changlong; Kadum, Mohannad J.; Shiau, Bor-Jier; Harwell, Jeffrey H.

doi:10.1080/01932691.2017.1388175

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…36 However, the trend reverses more or less above 0.5 M where the interfacial tension starts to increase with NaCl concentration, which is the direct evidence of the salting-out effect. The salted-out surfactants can then form microemulsion, 43 micelles, 44 or aggregates, 45 all of which can contribute to the increased stability of the thin film present between the drops and thus the partial coalescence.…”

Section: Microfluidic Investigation Of Salinity Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic Investigation of Salinity-Induced Oil Recovery in Porous Media during Chemical Flooding

et al. 2021

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High and low salinity water flooding are common oil recovery processes performed in the oil fields for extracting crude oil from the reservoir. These processes are often performed sequentially, naturally establishing non-uniform salinity in the porous subsurface. In this article, we investigate oil transport in porous media induced by salinity change upon flooding with high and low salinity water. As we observe a large number of impervious dead-ends from three-dimensional imaging of the actual reservoir, we identify that these areas play an important role in oil recovery where the oil transport is governed by the salinity change rather than hydrodynamics. The salinity gradients induced upon high salinity water flooding provide pathways to enhance the transport of oil drops trapped in the dead-end regions via non-equilibrium effects. However, above a critical salinity, we observe a rapid aggregation of drops that lead to the complete blockage of the pore space, thereby inhibiting oil recovery. We also find that, at an intermediate salinity where the drop aggregation is modest, the aggregation rather promotes the oil recovery. Our observations suggest that there exist optimal salinity conditions for maximizing oil recovery during chemical flooding.

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Section: Microfluidic Investigation Of Salinity Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic Investigation of Salinity-Induced Oil Recovery in Porous Media during Chemical Flooding

et al. 2021

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“…Recently, carbon-based NPs have also gained interest as additives for foam stability. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and fly ash nanoparticles were shown to increase the foam viscosity compared to pure alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS) by facilitating the surfactant partitioning at the gas–liquid interface, thus creating stronger foams. The addition of fly ash NPs doubled the half-life of the foam formed by the surfactant alone, resulting in enhanced gas mobility control .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Graphene Quantum Dots on Gas Foam Stability

Rane

Zhang

Van

et al. 2022

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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This study presents a new application of coal-derived graphene quantum dots (GQD) in stabilizing surfactant-based foams. The methane foam generated by the surfactant itself is susceptible to rapid collapse due to various factors. When the GQDs are added to the surfactant in a mass ratio between 1:8 to 1:16, they self-assemble at the lamella and prevent liquid drainage and coalescence. The nanofluid composed of GQD and amphoteric surfactant reduced both the oil–brine and brine–gas interfacial tension to a greater extent compared to the surfactant alone. In addition, GQD helped alter the rock wettability to strongly water-wet conditions, as compared to weakly water-wet conditions with pure surfactant. The foam formed by the nanofluid was made up of smaller uniformly shaped bubbles with a thick lamella, whereas the foam formed by the surfactant had large polyhedral shaped bubbles with a thin lamella. The transmission electron microscope micrographs of the nanofluid emulsion with crude oil showed that the GQDs are highly interfacially active and tend to assemble on the surface of the oil droplets. Next, the foam stability and strength were investigated with pure surfactant and nanofluid in high salinity brine using water- and oil-wet sandpacks at reservoir conditions relevant to the Bakken formation. The dependence of foam half-life and steady-state apparent viscosity was studied as a function of surfactant and GQD concentration, gas fraction, flow rate, and brine salinity. It was observed that the addition of GQD increases both the foam half-life and steady-state apparent viscosity compared to pure surfactant. This work paved the way for the application of novel carbonaceous nanoparticles under challenging conditions where traditional nanoparticles cannot be used.

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“…After foam breakthrough at the fourth PV, Δ p increased steadily as the foam formed and propagated in the column. In the MWNT scenario, the Δ p values continuously increased to a plateau after the first PV of dispersion was injected, indicating the realization of a steady state (Wang et al, ). The resultant foams, therefore, appeared stable and were considered strong foams.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Air coinjection experiments ( in situ foam generation operations) were run in dimensions of 3 in (L) × 1 in (D) of the Ottawa sand pack at room temperature. The setup and detailed procedure can be found in previous study (Wang et al, ). Compressed air was delivered at 8.0 mL min −1 via a mass flow controller (Omega FMA5504, Omega Engineering, Inc., Norwalk, CT, USA).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Propagation of Surfactant‐Dispersed Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in Porous Media

Chen

Wang

et al. 2019

J Surfact & Detergents

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Understanding the transport of carbon nanotubes in porous media is essential to their applications in subsurface reservoirs, e.g., delivering catalysts or chemicals to targeted formations. In this study, a series of laboratory experiments are conducted to explore the transport of surfactant‐dispersed multiwalled nanotubes (MWNT) in different porous media in flow‐through columns at elevated electrolyte levels. Noncovalent bonding of ethoxylated alcohols adsorbed on the MWNT surface provides them with outstanding dispersion stability and excellent transport properties in a crushed‐limestone sand pack. Superior transport performance in silica sand is obtained with binary nonionic–anionic surfactant formulations, which provide both steric repulsion and electrostatic repulsion between nanoparticle–nanoparticle and nanoparticle–sand surface. The mobility of MWNT suspensions are further investigated in the exposure to multiphase flow, e.g., with residual oil present, or coinjected with air into the sand pack. Coinjecting surfactant‐dispersed MWNT suspensions with air (i.e., MWNT‐stabilized foams) has hardly any impact on their propagation; retention in the sand pack remains quite low. With the presence of oil in the sand pack, the transport of MWNT suspensions is highly dependent on the type of surfactants used as the dispersant. For surfactants that achieved modest interfacial tension (IFT) reduction, the injected MWNT suspension bypasses the oil phase, and little impact on retention is observed. When the dispersant surfactant is also adjusted for an ultralow IFT condition, greater MWNT retention in the porous medium is observed because surfactants detach from the MWNT surface and aggressively partition to the oil/water interface, allowing the MWNT to flocculate and become deposited in the porous medium.

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Enhancing foam stability in porous media by applying nanoparticles

Cited by 21 publications

References 23 publications

Microfluidic Investigation of Salinity-Induced Oil Recovery in Porous Media during Chemical Flooding

Microfluidic Investigation of Salinity-Induced Oil Recovery in Porous Media during Chemical Flooding

Impact of Graphene Quantum Dots on Gas Foam Stability

Propagation of Surfactant‐Dispersed Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in Porous Media

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