Multi-scale Analysis of Surfactant-assisted Enhance Oil Recovery and Carbon Dioxide Geological Utilization
| dc.contributor.advisor | Chen, Zhangxing | |
| dc.contributor.author | Liu, Benjieming | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Aguilera, Roberto | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Maini, Brij | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Husein, Maen | |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Rui, Zhenhua | |
| dc.date | 2024-11 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-07-23T14:29:08Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-07-23T14:29:08Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-07-19 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Ever since the first industrial revolution, the rising trend of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions never stopped, contributing to the pressing global issue of global warming. The society still has a chance to prevent the worst of climate change’s future harm. Therefore, balancing the increase in energy demand while controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions has become a common goal for humanity. In the oil and gas industry, surfactants have been recently regarded as a viable chemical additive to enhance oil recovery (EOR) and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). However, the performance of surfactants in engineering fields has often been assessed too simplistically based on observed changes in their behaviors or properties. In order to provide an in-depth fundamental understanding of surfactant-assisted EOR and CCUS processes across multiple scales, in this thesis, essential mechanisms, including displacing performance, adsorption, diffusion, wettability, miscibility, and feasibility in field applications, were studied by experimental methods, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and numerical reservoir simulations. In detail, a) the impact of clay minerals on oil detachment from quartz surfaces during surfactant-assisted thermal recovery processes was evaluated; b) a generalized surface modeling procedure of wettability transition on quartz surfaces was proposed to accurately predict a contact angle on sandstone formations; c) the effect of nanoconfinement on the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) of a CO2/shale oil/surfactant system was investigated; d) a feasibility case study of a novel CO2-switchable surfactant flooding project was conducted on a targeted reservoir. The results of this thesis proved the versatility of surfactants in EOR and CCUS. It is found that clay minerals are not always detrimental to oil recovery. In fact, some clay contents can enhance an oil detachment process by influencing a spatial distribution of surfactant molecules in nanopores. The proposed generalized surface modeling procedure of quartz wettability in this thesis provided more accurate results than a traditional treatment that fully hydroxylates surface atoms. It successfully captured the trend of wettability transition on a quartz surface while considering a series of parameters, including a surface hydroxyl group density, temperature, surfactants, and crude oil. It was also found that the presence of surfactants can reduce the CO2-shale oil MMP. MMP can be further decreased when considering the nanoconfinement effect, as it intensifies CO2-surfactant interactions and inhibits the tendency of CO2 molecules to self-aggregate. Additionally, applying a CO2-switchable surfactant in chemical flooding significantly increased oil recovery, offering an eco-friendly method for oil production. To conclude, this dissertation deepens the understanding of surfactants in EOR and CCUS at multiple scales. It provides helpful guidance on surfactant-assisted engineering processes in the chemical and petroleum industry. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Liu, B. (2024). Multi-scale analysis of surfactant-assisted enhance oil recovery and carbon dioxide geological utilization (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119225 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/46821 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Graduate Studies | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | |
| 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. | |
| dc.subject | Surfactant | |
| dc.subject | wettability | |
| dc.subject | miscibility | |
| dc.subject | carbon neutrality | |
| dc.subject | molecular dynamics simulation | |
| dc.subject | reservoir simulation | |
| dc.subject.classification | Engineering--Petroleum | |
| dc.subject.classification | Engineering--Chemical | |
| dc.title | Multi-scale Analysis of Surfactant-assisted Enhance Oil Recovery and Carbon Dioxide Geological Utilization | |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Engineering – Chemical & Petroleum | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | |
| ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent | I require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application. |