Using Nanoparticles as Gas Foam Stabilizing Agents for Enhanced Oil Recovery Applications

Mheibesh, Yazan; Sagala, Farad; Nassar, Nashaat N.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-12051-5_8

Cited by 1 publication

(6 citation statements)

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“…Foam EOR verified its ability to enhance the macroscopic sweep efficiency of a gas flood by blocking the highly permeable or fractured zones, increasing the apparent viscosity of the gas, and diverting it toward unswept reservoir zones. 6 The study of Al Sumaiti et al, indicated that using CO 2 foam at a foam quality of 80% increased the viscosity up to 5 cP at reservoir conditions. 7 Additionally, their simulation study compared various EOR strategies for a heterogeneous reservoir, including water flooding, CO 2 flooding, and CO 2 foam flooding, the maximum field oil recovery achieved by each method was 34, 29, and 60%, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6,9−11 Although several types of nanoparticles were investigated in the literature for foam stabilization, including silica, fly ashes, and metal oxides, the concentrations of nanoparticles applied in these studies were relatively high and above 10,000 ppm. 6,12 Furthermore, the results of these studies suggested that the optimum surfactant concentration to avoid foam coalescence and ripening foam destabilization mechanisms is higher than the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the studied surfactant. 6,12 The primary factor attributed to the need for high nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations in previous studies is that the physical mixing of nanoparticles and surfactants was used before foam generation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6,12 Furthermore, the results of these studies suggested that the optimum surfactant concentration to avoid foam coalescence and ripening foam destabilization mechanisms is higher than the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the studied surfactant. 6,12 The primary factor attributed to the need for high nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations in previous studies is that the physical mixing of nanoparticles and surfactants was used before foam generation. 6 Consequently, the employment of these studies in actual field applications is still economically uncertain as the used nanofluids will probably cause reservoir damage due to nanoparticle agglomeration due to the highly needed nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6,12 The primary factor attributed to the need for high nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations in previous studies is that the physical mixing of nanoparticles and surfactants was used before foam generation. 6 Consequently, the employment of these studies in actual field applications is still economically uncertain as the used nanofluids will probably cause reservoir damage due to nanoparticle agglomeration due to the highly needed nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations. 12,13 Although limited literature is available on the application of surface-modified nanoparticles in foam stability, several studies used different forms of hydrophobically modified silica nanoparticles to enhance the CO 2 foamability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the effective properties, simulation, and pilot studies proving the capabilities of CO 2 foam EOR, the stability of conventional foams (foams stabilized solely by surfactants) is still a significant concern hindering its application widely in the petroleum industry. An ultimate approach to enhancing surfactant-stabilized foam stability can be nanoparticles due to their ability to get adsorbed at the gas/liquid interface irreversibly, optimize the liquid film interfacial properties, and enhance the foam film surface shear viscosity. ,− Although several types of nanoparticles were investigated in the literature for foam stabilization, including silica, fly ashes, and metal oxides, the concentrations of nanoparticles applied in these studies were relatively high and above 10,000 ppm. , Furthermore, the results of these studies suggested that the optimum surfactant concentration to avoid foam coalescence and ripening foam destabilization mechanisms is higher than the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the studied surfactant. , The primary factor attributed to the need for high nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations in previous studies is that the physical mixing of nanoparticles and surfactants was used before foam generation . Consequently, the employment of these studies in actual field applications is still economically uncertain as the used nanofluids will probably cause reservoir damage due to nanoparticle agglomeration due to the highly needed nanoparticle and surfactant concentrations. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stabilization of Carbon Dioxide Foam by a Low Concentration of Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide-Grafted Nano-Faujasite Zeolite. Part 1: Experimental Study

Mheibesh,

Hethnawi,

Sessarego

et al. 2023

Energy Fuels

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In this work, we are introducing an innovative technique to enhance the CO2 foam stability by using a nanofoam stabilizer that reduces the surfactant concentrations below the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The core structure of our foam stabilizer consists of faujasite zeolite nanoparticles (FAU) that are grafted with cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The prepared nanomaterials were fully characterized by an array of characterization techniques to gain insight into their surface properties and stability. Then, the foamability and foam stabilization properties of the CTAB, compared with the physically mixed CTAB and neat FAU nanoparticles, and CTAB-grafted FAU nanoparticle systems were evaluated at various surfactant concentrations based on initial foam volume, half-life, liquid holdup, surface shear viscosity, and bubble sizes. Furthermore, the CO2 foam stabilization mechanisms of all foaming agents were investigated by the dilational surface tension. Our results indicated that the CTAB-grafted FAU nanoparticles were able to stabilize the liquid films of CO2 foam at low surfactant concentrations via surfactant coverage on the surface of nanoparticles, which optimized the viscoelastic and surface tension properties of CO2 foam. In fact, below the CMC of CTAB (∼335 ppm), the initial foam volume and half-life remained constant after the addition of the FAU nanoparticles, whereas the foam properties were highly enhanced above the CMC (350–3000 ppm). Our foam stabilization results showed that the optimum stable CO2 foam was generated by CTAB-grafted FAU nanoparticles at a concentration of 1000 ppm (∼500 ppm grafted CTAB), which had a half-life of 773 s, in contrast to the other systems that had a half-life of less than 350 s at 500 ppm CTAB concentration. The surface tension results showed that grafting 50 and 100 ppm CTAB on FAU nanoparticles resulted in 60.20 and 51.52 mN/m initial dynamic surface tension measurements, whereas the virgin CTAB solutions at the same surfactant concentrations had initial dynamic surface tensions of 69.78 and 60.44 mN/m, respectively. On the other hand, at a surfactant concentration of 50 ppm (100 ppm CTAB-FAU nanoparticles), the viscoelastic modulus was almost identical to the viscoelastic modulus measurement at the CMC of CTAB. Interestingly, the CTAB-grafted FAU nanoparticles, compared with the other systems, had almost 1.5–4 times higher liquid holdup and formed smaller and homogeneous bubble sizes during the first 360 s. Hence, the CTAB-grafted FAU nanoparticles could retard the foam destabilization mechanisms, including foam bubble coalescence and ripening effects, due to their ability to maximize the viscoelastic modulus and reduce the surface tension at these low surfactant concentrations. Our findings can provide an economical solution for implementing conventional CO2 foams in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications while hindering the agglomeration of nanoparticles.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%