Investigation of the Interaction between Nanoparticles, Asphaltenes, and Silica Surfaces for Inhibition and Remediation of Formation Damage
Date
2021-07-19
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Abstract
World population growth, increment in industrialization and motorization of the world, increment in technical development and living standards are some factors that keep contributing to the increasing of the global energy demand. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternative sources to meet these demands. Considering renewable and non-renewable energies, there is still an interest in enhancing the oil and gas recovery, because its reserves are considerable in terms of the energy supply. Nevertheless, there are several challenges facing the oil production related with asphaltenes, and it requires a knowledge on the deposition mechanism of this fraction of oil and the factors influencing it, since they are important in many parts of the production processes, and refinery catalyst deactivation, causing significant production losses. Accordingly, appropriate mitigation techniques, for surfaces exposed to asphaltenes or operating conditions, can be identified. It has been demonstrated that the use of nanoparticles may improve the mobility of oil. This is because nanoparticles may enhance wettability alteration or disaggregation of asphaltene aggregates. Accordingly, this study will help to understand the interactions between asphaltenes and nanoparticles, at the beginning using computational modeling and model molecules for resins and asphaltenes. It is important to consider that asphaltenes are not the only component in the oil and the adsorbent affinity is affected for it. Then, naturally derived silicate-based nanoparticles were used to investigate their performance on wettability alteration and what is the mechanism involved in continuous flow over pre-adsorbed/deposited asphaltene SiO2 sensors; this was achieved using a QCM-D, contact angle measurements and AFM images. The results showed that depending on the asphaltenes aggregation stage, the nanoparticles interact differently with them. Finally, basic silicate-based nanofluids were tested at reservoir conditions. The main results indicated that low salinity was the most promising formulation for inhibiting/remediating formation damage caused by asphaltene precipitation/deposition. Relative permeability curves showed a shift to right after the injection of nanoparticles, confirming the role of nanoparticles on wettability alteration. Oil recovery factor was also increased when using nanoparticles to inhibit/remediate the damage. Therefore, silicate-based nanoparticles are good candidates to use as treatment for asphaltene formation damage.
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Keywords
Formation Damage, nanofluids, nanoparticles, inhibition, relative permeability curves, wettability
Citation
Montoya, L. T. (2021). Investigation of the Interaction between Nanoparticles, Asphaltenes, and Silica Surfaces for Inhibition and Remediation of Formation Damage (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.