Turbulent drag reduction of viscoelastic wormlike micellar gels

Mitishita, Rodrigo S.; Elfring, Gwynn J.; Frigaard, I.A.

doi:10.1016/j.jnnfm.2021.104724

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…Yamamoto et al [10] observed the simultaneous appearance of turbidity and SISs, shear-banding, and stress fluctuation (a phenomenon in which the viscosity fluctuates in a long cycle of the rheometer). These reports suggest that shear-banding is closely related to SISs and gel formation [11]. Furthermore, a surfactant solution containing the formed SISs reduces the wall friction under turbulent flow conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Formation of Gel-Like Shear-Induced Structure with Dosing of Dilute Surfactant Solution and Its Effect on Turbulent Channel Flow

Hara¹,

Ishii²,

Kawaguchi³

2022

OJFD

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A shear-induced structure (SIS) is formed under appropriate concentration and shear conditions in a surfactant micellar solution. In this study, we performed experiments of surfactant solution dosing in a fully developed two-dimensional turbulent channel flow from a sintered metallic wire mesh plate attached to a side wall. We investigated the behavior of the solution under the elongation during its passing through the wire mesh and under the strong shear due to the channel flow. It was confirmed that the dosed solution containing a laser dye was visualized by a laser sheet, and the accumulated gel from the wire mesh formed a layer and developed with time. Consequently, on dosing the dilute surfactant solution from the wire mesh, a gel-like SIS layer was formed, which majorly covered the wire mesh plate. The gel-like SIS layer on the wire mesh plate acted as a sticky solid and restricted the flow in the channel. This layer continued to grow while dosing, owing to which the pressure drop of the channel flow significantly increased. The gel-like SIS layer grew rapidly even in the turbulent flow and reached the equilibrium thickness. After the termination of the dosing, the gel layer collapsed gradually. In addition, the thickness of the gel-like SIS layer (indicating the strength indirectly) strongly depended on the surfactant concentration and the elongation rate in the wire mesh.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Formation of Gel-Like Shear-Induced Structure with Dosing of Dilute Surfactant Solution and Its Effect on Turbulent Channel Flow

Hara¹,

Ishii²,

Kawaguchi³

2022

OJFD

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“…Qi et al 99 have revealed that viscoelasticity is not important for reducing the friction of surfactants. Rodrigues et al 97 studied the turbulent flow of the C22 chain zwitterion surfactant solution. The results showed that the higher the VES concentration, the smaller is the resistance and the lower are the friction coefficient and Reynolds stress.…”

Section: Application Advantages For Ves Fracturing Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study has shown that the VES-based fluids produce less surface tension than borate-cross-linked gel . In addition, friction reduction due to the VES gel is a known phenomenon, , and VES’s use as the FR is a topic of interest to researchers. , The principle of reducing friction in the surfactant systems is similar to that of high-molecular-weight polymers. The elongated wormlike micelles intertwine with each other, forming a highly viscoelastic fluid, similar to a polymer solution.…”

Section: Application Advantages For Ves Fracturing Fluidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review on High-Temperature-Resistant Viscoelastic Surfactant Fracturing Fluids: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives

Liu

et al. 2023

Energy Fuels

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A viscoelastic surfactant (VES) fluid is an important part of a water-based fracturing fluid. As oil and gas exploration expands into deep, high-temperature, low-permeability reservoirs, the conventional VES fracturing fluid has shown great limitations. The high-temperature-resistance mechanisms of the high-temperature-resistant VES fracturing fluids in publicly available literature were analyzed from five aspects: single-chain surfactant system, oligomeric surfactant system, counterion effect, blended surfactant system, and nano-enhanced VES system. The friction-reduction performance, sand-carrying performance, gel-breaking performance, and core-damage performance of these systems were summarized. The results show that oligomeric surfactants with a monounsaturated hydrophobic long chain (>C21) are most likely to be used for VES fracturing fluids in high-temperature reservoirs, but the loading of the surfactants is still relatively high (3–5 wt %). By reducing the repulsion among polar headgroups to effectively decrease the area of head groups, or/and penetrating into the nonpolar cores based on hydrophobic interaction to increase the average hydrophobic volume of hydrophobic tails, counterions affect the performance of VESs. The aromatic counterion salts are preferred choices for improving the temperature resistance, friction reduction, and suspended sand performance of VES fluids. The blended surfactant/synthetic polymer systems based on noncovalent interaction improve the temperature resistance of VES fluids and reduce the loading of the surfactants to a certain extent. Based on the “pseudo-cross-linking” of nanomaterials and wormlike micelles, a very small amount of nanomaterials can improve the temperature resistance of VES fluids and reduce the loading of the surfactants. The most essential and effective method to improve the temperature resistance of VES fluids for fracturing is the molecular structure design based on the packing parameter theory. However, the synthesis process or route still needs further optimization to reduce production costs. In addition, given the excellent performance of VES fluids enhanced by nanomaterials, further research should be conducted on the influence mechanism of nanomaterial type and geometric features on the performance of VESs, as well as the potential harmfulness of nanomaterials, to promote the field-scale application of nano-enhanced VES fluids.

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“…First, a large number of emulsifiers and other auxiliaries are introduced into the polymerization process, making the chain transfer reaction complicated, and the molecular weight of polymers obtained via polymerization can only reach approximately 15 million, meaning that the emulsion drag-reducing agent has poor viscosity-increasing ability. Second, the solid content of the emulsion drag-reducing agent is less than 35% and it is expensive. − The dry powder drag-reducing agent is generally prepared via aqueous solution polymerization, resulting in a molecular weight of approximately 28 million, which is much larger than that of the emulsion drag-reducing agent, but less of it needs to be used and it has a low cost. However, realizing continuous liquid distribution is a problem for this dry powder drag-reducing agent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Multifunctional Drag-Reducing Suspension Agents

Chen

Zhao

et al. 2023

ACS Omega

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In the continuous liquid distribution process, the emulsion drag-reducing agent has poor viscosity-increasing ability and a low solid content, resulting in a high concentration and high cost. To solve this problem, a nanosuspension agent with a "shelf structure," a dispersion accelerator, and a density regulator were used as auxiliary agents to realize the stable suspension of a polymer dry powder in an oil phase. The results show that the molecular weight of the synthesized polymer powder could reach nearly 28 million when the mass ratio of acrylamide (AM) to acrylic acid (AA) was 80:20 and a chain extender was added. The synthesized polymer powder was dissolved in tap water and 2% brine separately, and the viscosity of the solutions was measured. The dissolution rate of up to 90% was reached at 30 °C, and the viscosity was 33 and 23 mPa s in tap water and in 2% brine, respectively. A stable suspension can be obtained without obvious stratification in one week and with good dispersion after 6 months by using the following composition: 37% oil phase + 1% nanosuspension agent + 10% dispersion accelerator + 50% polymer dry powder + 2% density regulator. The drag-reduction performance is good, remaining close to 73% with increasing time. The viscosity of the suspension solution is 21 mPa s in 50% standard brine, and the salt resistance is good. The rate at which the suspension fracturing fluid damages the formation is 7.56%, and the reservoir damage is unsubstantial. Its performance in field applications illustrated that its sand-carrying capacity, referring to the capacity of the fracturing fluid to carry proppants into the fracture and place them in a predetermined position, reaches 10%. The results show that the fracturing fluid can be used as a pre-fluid to break the formation, form fractures, and expand fracture networks under low-viscosity conditions and can be used as a sand-carrying fluid to carry proppants into the formation under high-viscosity conditions. Additionally, the fracturing fluid can directly realize the fast conversion between high and low viscosities and allow for multiple uses of one agent.

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Turbulent drag reduction of viscoelastic wormlike micellar gels

Cited by 14 publications

References 91 publications

Formation of Gel-Like Shear-Induced Structure with Dosing of Dilute Surfactant Solution and Its Effect on Turbulent Channel Flow

Formation of Gel-Like Shear-Induced Structure with Dosing of Dilute Surfactant Solution and Its Effect on Turbulent Channel Flow

Review on High-Temperature-Resistant Viscoelastic Surfactant Fracturing Fluids: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives

Study on Multifunctional Drag-Reducing Suspension Agents

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