This work aims to investigate the effect of active catalytic nanoparticles on the improvement of the efficiency in recovery of a continuous steam injection process. Catalytic nanoparticles were selected through batch-adsorption experiments and the subsequent evaluation of the temperature for catalytic steam gasification in a thermogravimetric analyzer. A nanoparticulated SiO 2 support was functionalized with 1.0 wt % of NiO and PdO nanocrystals, respectively, to improve the catalytic activity of the nanoparticles. Oil recovery was evaluated using a sand pack in steam injection scenarios in the absence and presence of a 500 mg/L SiNi1Pd1 nanoparticles-based nanofluid. The displacement test was carried out by constructing the base curves with water injection followed by steam injection in the absence and presence of the prepared treatment. The oil recovery increased 56% after steam injection with nanoparticles in comparison with the steam injection in the absence of the catalysts. The API gravity increases from 7.2 • to 12.1 •. Changes in the asphaltenes fraction corroborated the catalytic effect of the nanoparticles by reducing the asphaltenes content and the 620 • C+ residue 40% and 47%, respectively. Also, rheological measurements showed that the viscosity decreased by up to 85% (one order of magnitude) after the nanofluid treatment during the steam injection process.

Heavy (HO) and extra–heavy oil (EHO) production is complicated due to its high asphaltene content that lied to adverse rheological properties. In addition, the upgrading of these unconventional oils at surface or sub-surface conditions is a low cost-effective process because of the large amounts of energy needed. Accordingly, several in-situ techniques for enhancing HO and EHO recovery with objective of upgrading the oil and improving its viscosity and mobility have been employed. In this sense, nanoparticulated catalysts have demonstrated a synergistic effect in the enhancement of oil recovery and the improvement of the pyshicochemical properties of HO and EHO such as viscosity, API gravity and content of heavy hydrocarbons such as asphaltenes. Hence, this work aims at investigate the effect of catalytic active nanoparticles in the improvement of the efficiency in recovery of a continuous steam injection process. Nanoparticles were selected trough batch-adsorption experiments and the subsequent evaluation of the temperature for catalytic steam gasification in a thermogravimetric analyzer. A nanoparticulated support was functionalized with 2 wt% of NiO and/or PdO nanocrystals in order to improve the catalytic activity of the nanoparticles. Also, successfully a methodology for evaluating the effect of nanoparticulated catalyst in processes of continuous vapor injection was developed. Oil recovery was evaluated using a slim tube filled with a non-confined sand pack in steam injection scenarios in absence and presence of a water-based nanofluid. The displacement test was carried out by (1) constructing the base curves, (2) estimating the oil recovery by the continuous injection of vapor in absence of nanofluid and (3) identifying the influence of the nanoparticles in the enhanced recovery of oil. It was found that functionalized nanoparticles lead to higher adsorption of asphaltenes, higher degrees of asphaltenes self-association and lowered the temperature of n-C7 asphaltenes steam gasification. It was also observed that the oil recovery increased up to 46% for the system assisted by nanoparticles in comparison with the vapor injection without the nanocatalyst. API gravity of crude oil increased from 7.2 to 12.1°. A reduction of 59% in oil apparent viscosity was also observed. Additionally, trough n-C7 asphaltene and residue content it was demonstrated that nanoparticles are an excellent alternative for HO and EHO upgrading in processes involving vapor injection. n-C7 asphaltene content decreased a 5.2 percentile points after vapor injection in presence of nanoparticles in comparison with the virgin EHO. Also, the residue content (620°C+) decreased a 47%. Improved oil recovery due to nanoparticles injection could be attributed to three main reasons: i) wettability alteration of the porous media, ii) viscosity reduction due to reduction of the asphaltene aggregate and iii) crude oil upgrading. This study should generate a better landscape about the use of catalytic nanoparticles in the improvement of enhanced oil recovery processes and its application in local and international scenarios.

This work focuses on evaluating the effect of the steam quality on the upgrading and recovering extra-heavy crude oil in the presence and absence of two nanofluids. The nanofluids AlNi1 and AlNi1Pd1 consist of 500 mg·L−1 of alumina doped with 1.0% in mass fraction of Ni (AlNi1) and alumina doped with 1.0% in mass fraction of Ni and Pd (AlNi1Pd1), respectively, and 1000 mg·L−1 of tween 80 surfactant. Displacement tests are done in different stages, including (i) basic characterization, (ii) waterflooding, (iii) steam injection at 0.5 quality, (iv) steam injection at 1.0 quality, (v) batch injection of nanofluids, and (vi) steam injection after nanofluid injection at 0.5 and 1.0 qualities. The steam injection is realized at 210 °C, the reservoir temperature is fixed at 80 °C, and pore and overburden pressure at 1.03 MPa (150 psi) and 5.51 MPa (800 psi), respectively. After the steam injection at 0.5 and 1.0 quality, oil recovery is increased 3.0% and 7.0%, respectively, regarding the waterflooding stage, and no significant upgrade in crude oil is observed. Then, during the steam injection with nanoparticles, the AlNi1 and AlNi1Pd1 increase the oil recovery by 20.0% and 13.0% at 0.5 steam quality. Meanwhile, when steam is injected at 1.0 quality for both nanoparticles evaluated, no incremental oil is produced. The crude oil is highly upgraded for the AlNi1Pd1 system, reducing oil viscosity 99%, increasing the American Petroleum Institute (API)° from 6.9° to 13.3°, and reducing asphaltene content 50% at 0.5 quality. It is expected that this work will eventually help understand the appropriate conditions in which nanoparticles should be injected in a steam injection process to improve its efficiency in terms of oil recovery and crude oil quality.