Hybrid Application of Nanoparticles and Polymer in Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes

Abstract

Nowadays, the addition of nanoparticles to polymer solutions would be of interest; however, the feasible property of nanoparticles and their impact on oil recovery has not been investigated in more detail. This study investigates the rheology and capillary forces (interfacial tension and contact angle) of nanoparticles in the polymer performances during oil recovery processes. Thereby, a sequential injection of water, polymer, and nanoparticles; Nanosilica (SiO2) and nano-aluminium oxide (Al2O3) was performed to measure the oil recovery factor. Retention decrease, capillary forces reduction, and polymer viscoelastic behavior increase have caused improved oil recovery due to the feasible mobility ratio of polymer–nanoparticle in fluid loss. The oil recovery factor for polymer flooding, polymer–Al2O3, and polymer–SiO2 is 58%, 63%, and 67%, respectively. Thereby, polymer–SiO2 flooding would provide better oil recovery than other scenarios that reduce the capillary force due to the structural disjoining pressure. According to the relative permeability curves, residual oil saturation (Sor) and water relative permeability (Krw) are 29% and 0.3%, respectively, for polymer solution; however, for the polymer–nanoparticle solution, Sor and Krw are 12% and 0.005%, respectively. Polymer treatment caused a dramatic decrease, rather than the water treatment effect on the contact angle. The minimum contact angle for water and polymer treatment are about 21 and 29, respectively. The contact angle decrease for polymer treatment in the presence of nanoparticles related to the surface hydrophilicity increase. Therefore, after 2000 mg L−1 of SiO2 concentration, there are no significant changes in contact angle.

WITHDRAWN: Novel Low-Salinity Water flooding by Hybrid of Nano γ- Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 Modified with a Green Surfactant for Enhanced Oil Recovery

“…In recent years, to promote oil recovery mechanisms, combining two or more EOR methods, known as hybrid methods, has been explored to deal with operational challenges, reduce environmental damage and reduce production costs (Moradpour and Pourafshary.2019). HEOR methods can be optimized for different injection scenarios and achieve the most recovery oil factor (Habibi et al2020;Ahmadi et al .2020;Hu et al 2021;Mahmoudpour and Pourafshary 2021;Zallaghi and khazali 2021).…”

Influence of Polymer Viscoelasticity on Microscopic Remaining Oil Production

“…Along the flow direction, the rear part of the remaining oil was pushed downstream towards the wall, producing a negative curvature, while the front part of the remaining oil tended to roll along the wall. If the interfacial tension between the rock and remaining oil was high, the remaining oil would eventually break, with part of it separating from the mother liquid droplet, and part of it continuing to adhere to the wall [ 50 , 51 ].…”

Current Challenges and Advancements on the Management of Water Retreatment in Different Production Operations of Shale Reservoirs

“…These water savings can ensure the survival of several inhabitant and reduce the unnecessary expenses of freshwater supply. Another production operation that required water to continue its processes is CEOR, as water would be an essential part of preparing chemical agents such as polymers, foams, and surfactants [72][73][74]. The reason for this concerns the aqueous solution that needs to be provided for CEOR methods, as polymers and surfactants are in the form of powders [75][76][77].…”