In
this study, graphene oxide nanosheets (GONs) are introduced
as a prospective candidate for enhanced oil recovery, so they were
first synthesized and then fully characterized. Next, various suspensions
were prepared to monitor the impacts of GONs and NaCl on the viscosity,
interfacial tension (IFT), emulsification, wettability, and stability.
The viscosity of the suspensions witnessed a 34% increase when their
concentration was increased to 800 ppm. Mixing NaCl and 400 ppm GONs
showed that the NaCl amount had a major effect on the viscosity. The
viscosity rose steadily to 3 cSt by increasing NaCl to 30000 ppm but
fluctuated at 40000 and 60000 ppm. Moreover, even though increments
in the GON concentration decreased the IFT between oil and water to
19.4 mN/m, the IFT increased slightly from 400 ppm onward. GONs lessened
the IFT as much as roughly 2.5 units by adding each 0.02 wt % NaCl
to 400 ppm GONs. Besides, GONs made smaller and smaller emulsions
when their concentrations rose from 100 to 400 and 800 ppm. Interestingly,
400 ppm GONs with 2 and 4 wt % NaCl produced oil-in-water emulsions
of less than 10 μm. From contact-angle (CA) tests, it was found
that GONs were amphiphilic and could not noticeably alter the wettability
alone unless 2 wt % NaCl was added, and, consequently, CA varied from
13° to 75°. Also, the stability of GONs in an aqueous phase
was immensely impressed by 4 and 6 wt % NaCl after 14 days but stable
at 2 wt % NaCl. Last, in the micromodel flooding tests, the ultimate
recovery achieved by nanofluid was 28% higher compared with brine.
Wettability alteration and mobility improvement were obviously witnessed
by flooding nanofluid into an oil-wet micromodel. The viscous fingering
phenomenon could be decreased by increasing the breakthrough time
from 55 to 98 min.
Organic surfactants have been utilized with different nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations due to the synergic mechanisms of nanofluid stabilization, wettability alteration, and oil-water interfacial tension reduction. However, investment and environmental issues are the main concerns to make the operation more practical. The present study introduces a natural and cost-effective surfactant named Azarboo for modifying the surface traits of silica nanoparticles for more efficient EOR. Surface-modified nanoparticles were synthesized by conjugating negatively charged Azarboo surfactant on positively charged amino-treated silica nanoparticles. The effect of the hybrid application of the natural surfactant and amine-modified silica nanoparticles was investigated by analysis of wettability alteration. Amine-surfactant-functionalized silica nanoparticles were found to be more effective than typical nanoparticles. Amott cell experiments showed maximum imbibition oil recovery after nine days of treatment with amine-surfactant-modified nanoparticles and fifteen days of treatment with amine-modified nanoparticles. This finding confirmed the superior potential of amine-surfactant-modified silica nanoparticles compared to amine-modified silica nanoparticles. Modeling showed that amine surfactant-treated SiO2 could change wettability from strongly oil-wet to almost strongly water-wet. In the case of amine-treated silica nanoparticles, a strongly water-wet condition was not achieved. Oil displacement experiments confirmed the better performance of amine-surfactant-treated SiO2 nanoparticles compared to amine-treated SiO2 by improving oil recovery by 15%. Overall, a synergistic effect between Azarboo surfactant and amine-modified silica nanoparticles led to wettability alteration and higher oil recovery.
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