The Impact of Ionic Liquid and Nanoparticles on Stabilizing Foam for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

One of the commonly used tool in enhance oil recovery (EOR) is nitrogen foam flooding. The sweeping efficiency is largely determined by the foam stability. Recently the study on using nanoparticle, alone or with other chemicals, to stabilize foam has emerged in several fields of foam application. In this study, we use a combination of physicochemical tools to analyze the synergetic effect of ionic liquid cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) with nanoparticle in foam flooding of EOR. Two different nanoparticles (NPs), one hydrophilic and the other hydrophobic, are compared in terms of sweeping efficiency. It was found that CPC with hydrophilic NPs is much more effective in foam flooding residue oil than with hydrophobic NPs. This may be due to the difference in CPC orientation on NP surfaces, thus affecting the surface properties including surface tension, elasticity and contact angle. Consequently the stability of foam, which underpins the oil displacement efficiency in EOR, is influenced. The possible interaction and mechanism between CPC, NP and oil are discussed while considering the contribution from reduction of drainage rate, higher particle adsorption energy, and higher surface elasticity. Understanding the differential roles of hydrophilic and hydrophobic nanoparticles in ionic liquid stabilized foam as well as physical mechanism underpinning their specificity could help facilitate the development of new green nanomaterial in the application of EOR.

Influence of Surface‐Modified Nanoparticles on the Hydrodynamics of Rising Bubbles

“…NP were dispersed in Milli‐Q water with a surface tension of 72.5 ± 0.3 mN m −1 . Surface modifications were carried out on 20–30‐nm fumed silica NP (non‐functionalized, non‐porous, purity of 98 %) via three approaches: Dehydration of nanosilica surfaces through heat treatments (dehydrated nanosilica) Surface modification with the hydrophobic agent 3‐aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) (functionalized nanosilica type A) Surface modification with both hydrophilic agents (poly(ethylene glycol) linked to 3‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane according to 24) and hydrophobic agents (trimethoxy(propyl)silane) (functionalized nanosilica type B) …”

“…Surface modification with both hydrophilic agents (poly(ethylene glycol) linked to 3‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane according to 24) and hydrophobic agents (trimethoxy(propyl)silane) (functionalized nanosilica type B)…”

“…Colloidal NP are of great importance in stabilizing emulsions and foams, due to their interparticle interactions at the fluid interfaces. The hydrophobicity of silica NP can effectively control the stability, collapse, and coalescence of aqueous foams 10, 21–24. Furthermore, NP in the presence of surfactants are utilized as stabilizing agents of fluid‐liquid dispersions 25–28.…”

Research on Three-Phase Saturation Distribution Based on Microfluidic Visualization Experiment: A Case Study of Ling Xin Mining Area

“…Due to the fact like this, the three-phase saturation distribution (TSD) is of great significance for a deeper understanding on the three-phase porous flow and better strategies for energy development and ecological conservation [1,[6][7][8][9]. Gas production and flooding, especially during coal mining [10][11][12], have a nonnegligible impact on brine storage in mining area [13][14][15][16]. In specific, the residual oil in micropores is conducive to plug the predominant pathways for a better brine storage [17,18], while the gas flooding probably displaces the brine and oil in micropores causing brine transfer, even leakage [4,[19][20][21][22].…”

Nanoparticle-Stabilized Strong Foam for EOR in Fractured Reservoirs

“…It is not necessary for the nanoparticles to be amphiphilic. They can be hydrophilic as well; Jiang et al (2018) showed an example where the hydrophilic silica was more effective in foam flooding than relatively hydrophobic nanoparticles.…”