Flow Behavior and Displacement Mechanisms of Nanoparticle Stabilized Foam Flooding for Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery

Teng Lu, Zhaomin Li and Yan Zhou
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Teng Lu: College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao 266580, China
Zhaomin Li: College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao 266580, China
Yan Zhou: College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao 266580, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: In this study, nanoparticle stabilized foam experiments were performed in bulk tests, micromodels, and sandpacks at elevated temperatures and pressures to investigate the flow behavior and displacement mechanisms for enhanced heavy oil recovery. The results from the bulk tests showed that the stability of the foam and oil in water (O/W) emulsion improved when silica nanoparticles (SiO 2 ) were added, compared with the anionic surfactant alone. Also, the SiO 2 nanoparticles increased the dilatational viscoelasticity of the gas-water interface, which is an important fluid property and mechanism for improving heavy oil recovery. The micromodel studies demonstrated that several gas bubbles and oil droplets were stably dispersed during the nanoparticle stabilized foam flooding. The gas bubbles and oil droplets plug pores through capture-plugging and bridge-plugging, thereby increasing the sweep efficiency. The trapped residual oil is gradually pushed to the pores by the elastic forces of bubbles. Subsequently, the residual oil is pulled into oil threads by the flowing gas bubbles. Then, a greater improvement in displacement efficiency is obtained. The sandpack tests showed that the tertiary oil recovery of nanoparticle stabilized foam flooding can reach about 27% using 0.5 wt % SiO 2 nanoparticles. The foam slug size of 0.3 pore volume (PV) and the gas liquid ratio (GLR) of 3:1 were found to be the optimum conditions in terms of heavy oil recovery by nanoparticle stabilized foam flooding in this study. A continuous nanoparticle dispersion and N 2 could be more effective compared with the cyclic injection pattern.

Keywords: nanoparticle stabilized foam flooding; enhanced oil recovery; heavy oil; flow behavior; micromodel test (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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