Experimental Investigation of the Viscosity and Stability of Scleroglucan-Based Nanofluids for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

Biopolymers emerge as promising candidates for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications due to their molecular structures, which exhibit better stability than polyacrylamides under harsh conditions. Nonetheless, biopolymers are susceptible to oxidation and biological degradation. Biopolymers reinforced with nanoparticles could be a potential solution to the issue. The nanofluids’ stability and performance depend on the nanoparticles’ properties and the preparation method. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the preparation method and the nanoparticle type (SiO2, Al2O3, and TiO2) on the viscosity and stability of the scleroglucan (SG). The thickening effect of the SG solution was improved by adding all NPs due to the formation of three-dimensional structures between the NPs and the SG chains. The stability test showed that the SG + Al2O3 and SG + TiO2 nanofluids are highly unstable, but the SG + SiO2 nanofluids are highly stable (regardless of the preparation method). According to the ANOVA results, the preparation method and standing time influence the nanofluid viscosity with a statistical significance of 95%. On the contrary, the heating temperature and NP type are insignificant. Finally, the nanofluid with the best performance was 1000 ppm of SG + 100 ppm of SiO2_120 NPs prepared by method II.

Evaluation of the Thermal, Chemical, Mechanical, and Microbial Stability of New Nanohybrids Based on Carboxymethyl-Scleroglucan and Silica Nanoparticles for EOR Applications

“…Most of the filter ratios of the NH-A, NH-B, and SG solutions were below 1.2 ( Figure 3 ) [ 27 ], which means that the samples exhibited good filterability and no plugging tendency. This is an advantage compared to synthetic polymers with high molecular weights at lower concentrations.…”

Synthesis and Characterization of New Nanohybrids Based on Carboxymethyl Scleroglucan and Silica Nanoparticles

“…Our previous work [ 28 ] assessed the effect of the preparation method and the three nanoparticles, namely SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , and TiO 2 , on the viscosity and stability of scleroglucan (SG) nanofluids. According to the results, incorporating all NPs improved the viscosifying power of the SG solution due to the formation of NP–SG three-dimensional structures.…”