Insights into the Effects of Pore Size Distribution on the Flowing Behavior of Carbonate Rocks: Linking a Nano-Based Enhanced Oil Recovery Method to Rock Typing
Open Access
- 18 May 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Nanomaterials
- Vol. 10 (5), 972
- https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10050972
Abstract
As a fixed reservoir rock property, pore throat size distribution (PSD) is known to affect the distribution of reservoir fluid saturation strongly. This study aims to investigate the relations between the PSD and the oil–water relative permeabilities of reservoir rock with a focus on the efficiency of surfactant–nanofluid flooding as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique. For this purpose, mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) tests were conducted on two core plugs with similar rock types (in respect to their flow zone index (FZI) values), which were selected among more than 20 core plugs, to examine the effectiveness of a surfactant–nanoparticle EOR method for reducing the amount of oil left behind after secondary core flooding experiments. Thus, interfacial tension (IFT) and contact angle measurements were carried out to determine the optimum concentrations of an anionic surfactant and silica nanoparticles (NPs) for core flooding experiments. Results of relative permeability tests showed that the PSDs could significantly affect the endpoints of the relative permeability curves, and a large amount of unswept oil could be recovered by flooding a mixture of the alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS) surfactant + silica NPs as an EOR solution. Results of core flooding tests indicated that the injection of AOS + NPs solution in tertiary mode could increase the post-water flooding oil recovery by up to 2.5% and 8.6% for the carbonate core plugs with homogeneous and heterogeneous PSDs, respectively.Keywords
This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
- Prediction of Surfactant Retention in Porous Media: A Robust Modeling ApproachJournal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 2014
- Integration of rock typing methods for carbonate reservoir characterizationJournal of Geophysics and Engineering, 2013
- A comparative study of surfactant adsorption by clay mineralsJournal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2013
- Nanofluid for enhanced oil recoveryJournal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2011
- Zeta Potential MeasurementPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2010
- Quantification of pore structure and its effect on sonic velocity and permeability in carbonatesAAPG Bulletin, 2009
- Wettability alteration by CTAB adsorption at surfaces of SiO2 film or silica gel powder and mimic oil recoveryApplied Surface Science, 2004
- Experimental and analytical study of multidimensional imbibition in fractured porous mediaJournal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2002
- Wettability alteration in chalkJournal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2000
- Magnitude and Detailed Structure of Residual Oil SaturationSociety of Petroleum Engineers Journal, 1983