The oil/water interfacial behavior of microgels used for enhancing oil recovery: A comparative study on microgel powder and microgel emulsion

Yang, Yang; Wu, Peng; Zhang, Hao; Wang, Hao; He, Xuan

doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2021.127731

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…At 25 °C, the gel nano–microspheres are more likely to disperse in the water phase due to its good hydrophilicity and density closed to water after swelling, and its distribution at the interface is relatively loose (Figure d). In contrast, at 65 °C, the conformation transition of PNIPAM leads to the decrease of hydrophilicity and density of the nanospheres, which makes the nanospheres move toward the interface, which further reduces the IFT (Figure e) . In theory, the decrease of the oil–water IFT promotes the emulsification of the oil phase and improves the fluidity of the oil phase, thereby improving the oil displacement efficiency.…”

Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, at 65 °C, the conformation transition of PNIPAM leads to the decrease of hydrophilicity and density of the nanospheres, which makes the nanospheres move toward the interface, which further reduces the IFT (Figure 4e). 38 In theory, the decrease of the oil−water IFT promotes the emulsification of the oil phase and improves the fluidity of the oil phase, thereby improving the oil displacement efficiency. Figure 4f shows a schematic diagram of the conformation transition of PNIPAM.…”

Section: Ift Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Preparation and Properties of Temperature-Sensitive P(NIPAM-AM) Nano–Microspheres in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Zhou

Luo

et al. 2022

Energy Fuels

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As a new kind of water plugging and profile control agents, the polyacrylamide nano−microspheres have been experimentally applied and achieved satisfactory preliminary results in enhanced oil recovery, especially for low-permeability reservoirs. However, the larger swollen particle size and excessive hydrophilicity limit the effect at the oil−water interface. In order to further improve their profile control and flooding effect, the temperature-sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-acrylamide) nano−microspheres are prepared by inverse microemulsion polymerization. Based on the principle of conformation transition of PNIPAM triggered by simulated high temperature in reservoirs, the particle size and hydrophilicity of the microspheres are reduced, making it easier to reach the oil−water interface, reduce the oil−water interface tension, and enhance the structural disjoining pressure, which improves the spontaneous emulsification effect and removal effect of residual oil on rocks. The swelling properties, hydrophilicity, interfacial activity, and oil displacement properties of the nano−microspheres were also analyzed. The results show that the swelling ratio of the copolymerized nano−microspheres decreases to 1.5. At simulated reservoir temperature (65 °C), the water contact angle of copolymerized gel increases from 43 to 86°, indicating that its hydrophilicity decreases and shows a clear tendency to migrate to the water−oil interface. At 65 °C, 0.1 wt % PNIPAM-based microsphere emulsion (N3) reduces the oil−water interfacial tension from 17.8 to 0.9 mN m −1 . The microscopic oil displacement experiment shows that the recovery efficiency of our designed temperature-sensitive nano−microspheres emulsion is increased by 7%, which is higher than that of the PAM polymer nanosphere. The PNIPAM-based temperature-sensitive nano−microspheres that can function at the oil−water interface have a potential development prospect in low-permeability reservoirs.

show abstract

Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ift Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and Properties of Temperature-Sensitive P(NIPAM-AM) Nano–Microspheres in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Zhou

Luo

et al. 2022

Energy Fuels

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Using nanoparticles would be more favorable, particularly the use of nanoparticles that exhibit controllable interfacial activity. Recently, the use of microgel particles for EOR has received attention because of their ability to readily partition at an oil–water interface, , thus lowering the surfactant demand for oil displacement. Furthermore, Ni et al showed that using thermally responsive microgels that partition at the oil–water interface, a crude oil-in-water emulsion could be rapidly destabilized by decreasing the temperature below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the microgel, potentially alleviating some of the downstream processing difficulties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competitive Adsorption of Interfacially Active Nanoparticles and Anionic Surfactant at the Crude Oil–Water Interface

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The interfacial activity of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) nanoparticles in the absence and presence of an anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) was studied at a crude oil–water interface. Both species are interfacially active and can lower the interfacial tension, but when mixed together, the interfacial composition was found to depend on the aging time and total component concentration. With the total component concentration less than 0.005 wt %, the reduced interfacial tension by pNIPAM was greater than SDS; thus, pNIPAM has a greater affinity to partition at the crude oil–water interface. However, the lower molecular weight (smaller molecule) of SDS compared to pNIPAM meant that it rapidly partitioned at the oil–water interface. When mixed, the interfacial composition was more SDS-like for low total component concentrations (≤ 0.001 wt %), while above, the interfacial composition was more pNIPAM-like, similar to the single component response. Applying a weighted arithmetic mean approach, the surface-active contribution (%) could be approximated for each component, pNIPAM and SDS. Even though SDS rapidly partitioned at the oil–water interface, it was shown to be displaced by the pNIPAM nanoparticles, and for the highest total component concentration, pNIPAM nanoparticles were predominantly contributing to the reduced oil–water interfacial tension. These findings have implications for the design and performance of fluids that are used to enhance crude oil production from reservoirs, particularly highlighting the aging time and component concentration effects to modify interfacial tensions.

show abstract

“…Microgel is one of the profile control agents that can achieve remarkable profile control and EOR performance. The granuliform gel particles can enter the deep part of reservoirs and form a gel swelling body. – In the high permeable area, the large gel expansion body could block the big pore, divert the water flow to the low permeable region, and extend the swept efficiency of water flooding. – The successful application of gel particles has significantly improved the development efficiency of high water-cut reservoirs. – However, there are still some problems faced by profile control treatments using microgel particles. For example, with the migration of microgel, the particles will gradually break up under the extrusion deformation and shear action of heterogeneous porous media, reducing the ability of gel particles to plug the big pore throat. – Therefore, how to improve the mechanical strength of microgel particles and enhance their crushing resistance, achieving both an effective plugging and a deep remigration, has become a challenge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature- and Salt-Tolerant 2-Acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic Acid/AM@SiO₂ Microgel Particles: Synthesis and Enhanced Oil Recovery Performance Evaluation

Wang,

Song

et al. 2023

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To simultaneously meet the demands of small size for easy transportation and injection as well as temperature and salinity resistance, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS)/AM@SiO2 microgel particles were synthesized to achieve a good performance for the in-depth profile control treatment. The characteristic functional group, mechanical property, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) performance were comprehensively evaluated by Fourier infrared spectrometer, nanoindentation apparatus, and sand-packed tubes with different permeability conditions. AMPS contains active double bonds and sulfonic acid groups, which could enhance the temperature and salinity resistance of gel systems. Therefore, the AMPS/AM and AMPS/AM@SiO2 microgel particles have remarkable temperature and salinity tolerance and can be used at a high temperature (130 °C) and high salinity conditions (200,000 mg/L). The mechanical energy can be dissipated effectively by adding 1.0 wt % nano-SiO2 which could significantly improve the compression strength and elastic modulus. The elastic moduli of the AMPS/AM@SiO2 microgel particles (1500 mg/L) are 17.36 MPa, which is much higher than that of AMPS/AM microgel particles (10.44 MPa). This effect can improve the performance of the antierosion and compression deformation of the AMPS/AM@SiO2 microgel particles. The AMPS/AM@SiO2 microgel particles not only have good plugging performance and antierosion stability that can divert the subsequent injected fluid to lower permeable zones but also can achieve an in-depth secondary plugging effect through compression deformation and remigration. The performance of profile control and oil displacement of the AMPS/AM@SiO2 microgel particles has been verified from parallel sand-packed tubes simulating strong heterogeneous reservoirs. Compared with water flooding, the total oil recovery was increased by 22.8% after the injection of 0.5 PV AMPS/AM@SiO2 microgel particles, which is higher than that of AMPS/AM microgel particles (16.4%). This work not only provides a potential agent, i.e., AMPS/AM@SiO2 microgel particle, for in-depth profile control in high temperature and high salinity offshore oilfields but also helps for a better understanding of the mechanism of in-depth profile control and EOR for microgel particles.

show abstract

The oil/water interfacial behavior of microgels used for enhancing oil recovery: A comparative study on microgel powder and microgel emulsion

Cited by 20 publications

References 39 publications

Preparation and Properties of Temperature-Sensitive P(NIPAM-AM) Nano–Microspheres in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Preparation and Properties of Temperature-Sensitive P(NIPAM-AM) Nano–Microspheres in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Competitive Adsorption of Interfacially Active Nanoparticles and Anionic Surfactant at the Crude Oil–Water Interface

Temperature- and Salt-Tolerant 2-Acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic Acid/AM@SiO₂ Microgel Particles: Synthesis and Enhanced Oil Recovery Performance Evaluation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The oil/water interfacial behavior of microgels used for enhancing oil recovery: A comparative study on microgel powder and microgel emulsion

Cited by 20 publications

References 39 publications

Preparation and Properties of Temperature-Sensitive P(NIPAM-AM) Nano–Microspheres in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Preparation and Properties of Temperature-Sensitive P(NIPAM-AM) Nano–Microspheres in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Competitive Adsorption of Interfacially Active Nanoparticles and Anionic Surfactant at the Crude Oil–Water Interface

Temperature- and Salt-Tolerant 2-Acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic Acid/AM@SiO2 Microgel Particles: Synthesis and Enhanced Oil Recovery Performance Evaluation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Temperature- and Salt-Tolerant 2-Acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic Acid/AM@SiO₂ Microgel Particles: Synthesis and Enhanced Oil Recovery Performance Evaluation