Study on different concentrations of nanoparticles as agent of oil recovery efficiency in high salinity reservoir

Abstract

Most oil reservoirs around the world are experiencing their second half of life. Hence, the necessity of appropriate enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method as a more efficient technology gets further importance. Nanotechnology is an advanced technology that has proved its potential to enhance oil recovery. Innovative techniques are highly required in the oil and gas industry to meet the future demand of the hydrocarbon fuels; significant efforts have been exerted on the development of new innovative technologies to increase the oil recovery. Nanotechnology has provided new promising approaches to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques in matured and marginal fields. In this research, the different concentrations of TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles were formulated and their properties have been measured in terms of their application in enhancing oil recovery efficiency in high salinity reservoir conditions. It was observed that 3wt% SiO2 nanoparticles solution yielded the highest tertiary recovery of 26.67% compared to the 0.01wt% TiO2 nanoparticles solution that yielded 23.33%. SiO2 Nanoparticles solutions also showed significant reduction in IFT values and contact angle measurements compared to TiO2 nanoparticle solutions. 3wt% SiO2 concentration had the lowest IFT value of 5.26 dyne/cm and lowest contact angle of 12.09 ° compared to all the different nanoparticle concentrations used in this research. Thus, it was concluded that 3wt% SiO2 nanoparticles solution was the optimum concentration to be used in high salinity reservoir condition.