Surfactant-free Aluminum Silicate-based Nanofluids for Enhanced Oil Recovery from Austin Chalk Carbonate Reservoirs

Taleb, Moussa

Surfactant-free Aluminum Silicate-based Nanofluids for Enhanced Oil Recovery from Austin Chalk Carbonate Reservoirs

dc.contributor.advisor	Nassar, Nashaat N.
dc.contributor.author	Taleb, Moussa
dc.contributor.committeemember	Hassanzadeh, Hassan
dc.contributor.committeemember	Sumon, Kazi Z.
dc.date	2020-11
dc.date.accessioned	2020-06-01T17:02:28Z
dc.date.available	2020-06-01T17:02:28Z
dc.date.issued	2020-05-25
dc.description.abstract	Recently, the application of nanoparticles for enhancing oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs has received great attention from various researchers across the oil and gas industry. In contrast to sandstone reservoirs, carbonates are naturally neutral-wet or preferentially oil-wet. Understanding the mechanisms associated with wettability alteration of these reservoirs, especially to strongly water-wet, is of great importance during various stages of oil production. Altering the reservoir wettability towards water-wet enhances the spontaneous imbibition of water, resulting in improved oil recovery. In this study, a novel surfactant-free aluminum silicate-based nanofluid is synthesised and tested for its efficiency to alter the wettability of Austin Chalk carbonate rocks from oil-wet to strongly water-wet. Characterization techniques, such as SEM, BET, XRD, DLS, and Z-potential were conducted on the synthesized nanoparticles to confirm their surface identity, functionality, stability, and morphology. The prepared nanofluids from the synthesized nanoparticles were tested in comparison to brine for their EOR efficiency in carbonate cores. The EOR performance was investigated by interfacial tension (IFT), contact angle, spontaneous imbibition, and displacement tests. The results showed that compared to brine alone, nanofluids could notably alter the rock wettability from oil-wet to water-wet. To confirm this, a core flooding test was performed which further reiterated the capability of the aluminum silicate-based nanofluids to act as effective EOR agents in hydrocarbon carbonate reservoirs by recovering an additional 9.23% of residual oil in comparison to low-salinity brine.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Taleb, M. (2020). Surfactant-free Aluminum Silicate-based Nanofluids for Enhanced Oil Recovery from Austin Chalk Carbonate Reservoirs (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/37888
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112137
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Schulich School of Engineering	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject	nanofluids	en_US
dc.subject	nanoparticles	en_US
dc.subject	EOR	en_US
dc.subject	Enhanced oil recovery	en_US
dc.subject	core flooding	en_US
dc.subject	carbonate	en_US
dc.subject	reservoir engineering	en_US
dc.subject	nanofluid flooding	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Chemical	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Engineering--Petroleum	en_US
dc.title	Surfactant-free Aluminum Silicate-based Nanofluids for Enhanced Oil Recovery from Austin Chalk Carbonate Reservoirs	en_US
dc.type	master thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Engineering – Chemical & Petroleum	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US