Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation

Nanoparticles have gained considerable interest in recent times for oil recovery purposes owing to significant capabilities in wettability alteration of reservoir rocks. Wettability is a key factor controlling displacement efficiency and ultimate recovery of oil. The present study investigates the i...

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Main Authors: Nwidee, L., Al-Anssari, S., Barifcani, A., Sarmadivaleh, M., Lebedev, Maxim, Iglauer, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31750
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author Nwidee, L.
Al-Anssari, S.
Barifcani, A.
Sarmadivaleh, M.
Lebedev, Maxim
Iglauer, S.
author_facet Nwidee, L.
Al-Anssari, S.
Barifcani, A.
Sarmadivaleh, M.
Lebedev, Maxim
Iglauer, S.
author_sort Nwidee, L.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Nanoparticles have gained considerable interest in recent times for oil recovery purposes owing to significant capabilities in wettability alteration of reservoir rocks. Wettability is a key factor controlling displacement efficiency and ultimate recovery of oil. The present study investigates the influence of zirconium (IV) oxide (ZrO2) and nickel (II) oxide (NiO) nanoparticles on the wetting preference of fractured (oil-wet) limestone formations. Wettability was assessed through SEM, AFM and contact angle. The potentials of the nanoparticles to alter oil-wet calcite substrates water wet, was experimentally tested at low nanoparticle concentrations (0.004–0.05 wt%). Quite similar behaviour was observed for both nanoparticles at the same particle concentration; while ZrO2 demonstrated a better efficiency by altering strongly oil-wet (water contact angle θ=152°) calcite substrates into a strongly water-wet (θ=44°) state, NiO changed wettability to an intermediate-wet condition (θ=86°) at 0.05 wt% nanoparticle concentration. We conclude that ZrO2 is very efficient in terms of inducing strong water-wettability; and ZrO2 based nanofluids have a high potential as EOR agents.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-317502018-11-30T04:14:03Z Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation Nwidee, L. Al-Anssari, S. Barifcani, A. Sarmadivaleh, M. Lebedev, Maxim Iglauer, S. Nanoparticles have gained considerable interest in recent times for oil recovery purposes owing to significant capabilities in wettability alteration of reservoir rocks. Wettability is a key factor controlling displacement efficiency and ultimate recovery of oil. The present study investigates the influence of zirconium (IV) oxide (ZrO2) and nickel (II) oxide (NiO) nanoparticles on the wetting preference of fractured (oil-wet) limestone formations. Wettability was assessed through SEM, AFM and contact angle. The potentials of the nanoparticles to alter oil-wet calcite substrates water wet, was experimentally tested at low nanoparticle concentrations (0.004–0.05 wt%). Quite similar behaviour was observed for both nanoparticles at the same particle concentration; while ZrO2 demonstrated a better efficiency by altering strongly oil-wet (water contact angle θ=152°) calcite substrates into a strongly water-wet (θ=44°) state, NiO changed wettability to an intermediate-wet condition (θ=86°) at 0.05 wt% nanoparticle concentration. We conclude that ZrO2 is very efficient in terms of inducing strong water-wettability; and ZrO2 based nanofluids have a high potential as EOR agents. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31750 10.1016/j.petrol.2016.11.017 Elsevier fulltext
spellingShingle Nwidee, L.
Al-Anssari, S.
Barifcani, A.
Sarmadivaleh, M.
Lebedev, Maxim
Iglauer, S.
Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation
title Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation
title_full Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation
title_fullStr Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation
title_full_unstemmed Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation
title_short Nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation
title_sort nanoparticles influence on wetting behaviour of fractured limestone formation
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/31750