Investigation of the interaction between nanoparticles, asphaltenes, and silica surfaces by real‐time quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation

Abstract

The effects of nanofluids as wettability alternators and inhibitors of asphaltene precipitation and formation damage were studied in this work. Silicate‐based nanoparticles with different chemical surfaces, named neutral (NN), basic (BN), and acidic (AN), dispersed in NaCl brine were tested to observe their interactions with n‐C7 asphaltenes and silica surfaces using the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM‐D). The properties of nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, BET, TPD, and HRTEM. Heptol 70 asphaltenes, pre‐adsorbed/deposited on SiO2 sensors were used for studying the concentration effect of 10 nm‐sized BN‐based nanofluids, which exhibited a decreasing trend in frequency shift in the following order 1 > 10 > 25 mg/L. For toluene asphaltenes, the frequency shifts in BN nanofluids changed with the following order of concentration 100 > 150 > 50 > 25 mg/L. The effect of particle size on frequency shift, tested for toluene asphaltenes demonstrated the following order 10 > 99 > 45 > 20 nm BN. A cycle injection test between asphaltenes and a nanofluid solution was performed to evaluate the effect of the nanoparticles in a sequence injection. Wettability alteration was assessed before and after nanofluid injection using contact angle measurements, which resulted in a decrease after nanofluid injection. In addition, atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements were performed on some of the samples to support the findings. The QSense data analysis software Q‐Tools was used to determine the thickness of the layer before and after the injection of nanofluids; the trend was similar to the change in frequency for all parameters. Finally, brine‐based nanofluids with 10 nm‐sized BN at 1 and 100 mg/L were more effective in treating the deposited asphaltenes in heptol 70 and toluene, respectively.

Study of Activation Energy for Viscous Flow of Mixtures as a Measure of Dilution Efficiency for Heavy Oil-Diluent Systems

“…Gas condensates consist predominantly of pentane (C 5 H 12 ) with varying amounts of higher-boiling hydrocarbon derivatives (up to C 8 H 18 ) but relatively little methane or ethane, propane (C 3 H 8 ) and butane (C 4 H 10 ) may be present in condensate by dissolution in the liquids (Speight, 2018). Asphaltenes can be regarded as colloidal in nature (Storm, 1994), and the heaviest molecular weight fractions in crude oil and, therefore, nanomaterial in crude oils (Farooq et al 2021;Montoya et al, 2021)). Consequently, a mixture of natural gas condensate with Saudi Heavy crude oil will cause precipitation of asphaltenes.…”

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Inhibitors for Middle Eastern Asphaltenes by Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation

“…This value is within the range of frequency reduction (Δf = 35−40 Hz) typically reported in QCM-D measurements for adsorption of asphaltenes from toluene solution. 30,31,35 Following this initial adsorption, the metal surface was saturated with organic material, and the additional buildup of material continued at a much slower and nearly steady rate of ∼0.5 Hz h −1 . In comparison to the dead-oil-derived asphaltenes, the normalized frequency curve of the field deposit sample indicates that much more material was adsorbed on the clean surface initially, with a frequency reduction of Δf ≈ 56 Hz after 2500 s (Figure 2a).…”

“…The nature of asphaltene inhibitor interactions as well as the interaction enthalpy were determined under static conditions using isothermal titration calorimetry . Recently, the application of a quartz crystal microbalance as a direct method to obtain time-dependent information on the early processes leading to asphaltene deposition has received attention in asphaltene research. − The strength of this technique is in its ability to quantify deposited material that is undetectable by the naked eye. The major advantage, however, lies in the fact that measurements are performed under a continuous liquid flow and, thus, under dynamic conditions, which better approximate real-world situations.…”

“…The major advantage, however, lies in the fact that measurements are performed under a continuous liquid flow and, thus, under dynamic conditions, which better approximate real-world situations. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation module (QCM-D) has been used to model the adsorption of both stabilized asphaltenes from toluene solution − as well as from heptol , (mixture of toluene and heptane) during the onset of asphaltene precipitation in model oil systems. Further, QCM-D was also used to model adsorption of asphaltenes onto metallic surfaces directly from crude oil in toluene solution as well as from heptol solution with different concentrations of heptanes. , This has led to the application of QCM-D to evaluate the performance of asphaltene inhibitors in model oil systems or dead crude oil samples in both stabilized toluene solutions as well as under conditions of asphaltene precipitation onset using heptol , or gas injection. , As we demonstrate in this work the quartz microbalance technique also provides multiple experimental details on the underlying physicochemical mechanisms because it is capable of distinguishing between individual processes, such as adsorption, removal, and prevention of further deposition within a single experiment.…”