Water Enhancement Using Nanoparticles in Water Alternating Gas (WAG) Micromodel Experiments

Abstract

Abstract Nanotechnology has found widespread application in a diverse range of industries. Researchers are now investigating whether nanotechnology can be applied to enhance oil recovery (EOR). The goal of enhanced oil recovery is to manipulate the fluid-fluid properties (interfacial tension, viscosity), and fluid-rock properties (contact angle, relative permeability) between the injected fluid and the residual oil phase to improve pore scale recovery efficiency. Adding nanoparticles to the injected water has been shown to improve oil recovery. In this study, nanoparticles were added to the water phase of water alternating gas (WAG) and injected into waterflood residual oil in two dimensional glass micromodels to study the effect of the nanoparticles qualitatively at low pressures. Silicon oxide (SiO2) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles, at different concentrations, were dispersed in the brine and injected as the water phase in WAG followed by air as the gas phase. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of the factors and interactions between the factors on oil recovery. The results from the micromodel studies indicate that adding a small amount of nanoparticles to the brine can enhance residual oil recovery.