Author/Authors :
Cheraghian, Goshtasp Tehran Scince and Research Branch - Islamic Azad University, , Khalili Nezhad, Shahram Tehran Scince and Research Branch - Islamic Azad University , Kamari, Mosayyeb Chemical Engineering Department - Sahand University of Technology , Hemmati, Mahmood Tehran Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) , Masihi, Mohsen Sharif University of Technology , Bazgir, Saeed Tehran Scince and Research Branch - Islamic Azad University
Abstract :
Nanotechnology has been used in many applications and new possibilities are discovered constantly.
Recently, a renewed interest has risen in the application of
nanotechnology for the upstream petroleum industry, such
as exploration, drilling, production and distribution. In
particular, adding nanoparticles to fluids may significantly
benefit enhanced oil recovery and improve well drilling,
such as changing the properties of the fluid, wettability
alternation of rocks, advanced drag reduction, strengthening sand consolidation, reducing the interfacial tension and
increasing the mobility of the capillary-trapped oil. In this
study, we focus on the roles of clay and silica nanoparticles
in adsorption process on reservoir rocks. Polymer-flooding
schemes for recovering residual oil have been in general
less satisfactory due to loss of chemicals by adsorption on
reservoir rocks, precipitation, and resultant changes in
rheological properties. Adsorption and rheological property
changes are mainly determined by the chemical structure of
the polymers, surface properties of the rock, composition
of the oil and reservoir fluids, the nature of the polymers
added and solution conditions such as salinity, pH and
temperature. Because this method relies on the adsorption
of a polymer layer onto the rock surface, a deeper understanding of the relevant polymer–rock interactions is of
primary importance to develop reliable chemical selection
rules for field applications. In this paper, the role of
nanoparticles in the adsorption of water-soluble polymers
onto solid surfaces of carbonate and sandstone is studied.
The results obtained by means of static adsorption tests
show that the adsorption is dominated by the nanoclay and
nanosilica between the polymer molecules and the solid
surface. These results also show that lithology, brine concentration and polymer viscosity are critical parameters
influencing the adsorption behavior at a rock interface. On
the other hand, in this study, the focus is on viscosity,
temperature and salinity of solutions of polyacrylamide
polymers with different nanoparticle degrees and molecular weight. The adsorption of nanopolymer solution is
always higher in carbonated stones than in sandstones, and
polymer solutions containing silica nanoparticles have less
adsorption based on weight percent than similar samples
containing clay. Based on the area of contact for stone, this
behavior is the same regarding adsorption.
Keywords :
Nanoparticles , Static adsorption , Nanoclay , Enhanced oil recovery
