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Nanomaterials
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Nanotechnology Applied to the Oil Productivity Improvement and Enhancement of...
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Nanotechnology Applied to the Oil Productivity Improvement and Enhancement of Oil Recovery

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Nanoscience and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 June 2021) | Viewed by 12380

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Farid B. Cortés

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Guest Editor
Process and Energy Department, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin 050036, Colombia
Interests: transition energy; energy storage; CCUS; hydrogen production; green synthesis; nanomaterials; nanoparticles; catalysts; adsorption; absorption; nanomaterial characterization; water treatments; quantum dots; fuels
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Camilo A. Franco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Process and Energy Department, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin 050036, Colombia
Interests: transition energy; energy storage; CCUS; hydrogen production; green synthesis; nanomaterials; nanoparticles; catalysts; adsorption; absorption; nanomaterial characterization; water treatments; quantum dots; fuels
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The exponential growth of the world's population has led to a higher demand for fossil fuels to meet energy needs. In this regard, nanotechnology is becoming a key player in incorporating advances that lead to an increase in productivity and reserves of crude oil and gas. Recent applications under field conditions have proven that nanoparticles and nanofluids can inhibit/remediate different formation damage mechanisms, increase well productivity, and enhance the oil and gas recovery. Therefore, the main objective of this Special Issue is to provide the last advances and applications under an industrially relevant environment of nanotechnology-based solutions focused on productivity improvement and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to face the current challenges of the oil and gas industry.

The main objective of this Special Issue is to provide novel, original, and high-quality articles as powerful tools for readers of Nanomaterials, the scientific community, and members of the oil and gas industry. Original research and review articles are welcome for this issue.

Topics that will be considered for this Special Issue include but are not limited to the following:

  • EOR
  • EGR (enhanced gas recovery)
  • Formation damage
  • IOR (improved oil recovery) and well productivity
  • Unconventional resources
  • Surface and/or Interface phenomena
  • Microfluidic
  • Nanofluids/nanoparticles

Prof. Dr. Farid B. Cortés
Dr. Camilo A. Franco
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 31467 KiB  
Article
Catalytic Conversion of n-C7 Asphaltenes and Resins II into Hydrogen Using CeO2-Based Nanocatalysts
by Oscar E. Medina, Jaime Gallego, Sócrates Acevedo, Masoud Riazi, Raúl Ocampo-Pérez, Farid B. Cortés and Camilo A. Franco
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(5), 1301; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11051301 - 14 May 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2120
Abstract
This study focuses on evaluating the volumetric hydrogen content in the gaseous mixture released from the steam catalytic gasification of n-C7 asphaltenes and resins II at low temperatures (<230 °C). For this purpose, four nanocatalysts were selected: CeO2, CeO [...] Read more.
This study focuses on evaluating the volumetric hydrogen content in the gaseous mixture released from the steam catalytic gasification of n-C7 asphaltenes and resins II at low temperatures (<230 °C). For this purpose, four nanocatalysts were selected: CeO2, CeO2 functionalized with Ni-Pd, Fe-Pd, and Co-Pd. The catalytic capacity was measured by non-isothermal (from 100 to 600 °C) and isothermal (220 °C) thermogravimetric analyses. The samples show the main decomposition peak between 200 and 230 °C for bi-elemental nanocatalysts and 300 °C for the CeO2 support, leading to reductions up to 50% in comparison with the samples in the absence of nanoparticles. At 220 °C, the conversion of both fractions increases in the order CeO2 < Fe-Pd < Co-Pd < Ni-Pd. Hydrogen release was quantified for the isothermal tests. The hydrogen production agrees with each material’s catalytic activity for decomposing both fractions at the evaluated conditions. CeNi1Pd1 showed the highest performance among the other three samples and led to the highest hydrogen production in the effluent gas with values of ~44 vol%. When the samples were heated at higher temperatures (i.e., 230 °C), H2 production increased up to 55 vol% during catalyzed n-C7 asphaltene and resin conversion, indicating an increase of up to 70% in comparison with the non-catalyzed systems at the same temperature conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanotechnology Applied to the Oil Productivity Improvement and Enhancement of Oil Recovery)
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15 pages, 2034 KiB  
Article
Disruption of Cationic/Anionic Viscoelastic Surfactant Micellar Networks by Hydrocarbon as a Basis of Enhanced Fracturing Fluids Clean-Up
by Andrey V. Shibaev, Anna L. Aleshina, Natalya A. Arkharova, Anton S. Orekhov, Alexander I. Kuklin and Olga E. Philippova
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(12), 2353; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10122353 - 27 Nov 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 1968
Abstract
Studies of the effects produced by the solubilization of hydrophobic substances by micellar aggregates in water medium are quite important for applications of viscoelastic surfactant solutions for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), especially in hydraulic fracturing technology. The present paper aims at the investigation [...] Read more.
Studies of the effects produced by the solubilization of hydrophobic substances by micellar aggregates in water medium are quite important for applications of viscoelastic surfactant solutions for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), especially in hydraulic fracturing technology. The present paper aims at the investigation of the structural transformations produced by the absorption of an aliphatic hydrocarbon (n-decane) by mixed wormlike micelles of cationic (n-octyltrimethylammonium bromide, C8TAB) and anionic (potassium oleate) surfactants enriched by C8TAB. As a result of contact with a small amount (0.5 wt%) of oil, a highly viscoelastic fluid is transformed to a water-like liquid. By small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) combined with cryo-TEM, it was shown that this is due to the transition of long wormlike micelles with elliptical cross-sections to ellipsoidal microemulsion droplets. The non-spherical shape was attributed to partial segregation of longer- and shorter-tail surfactant molecules inside the surfactant monolayer, providing an optimum curvature for both of them. As a result, the long-chain surfactant could preferably be located in the flatter part of the aggregates and the short-chain surfactant—at the ellipsoid edges with higher curvature. It is proven that the transition proceeds via a co-existence of microemulsion droplets and wormlike micelles, and upon the increase of hydrocarbon content, the size and volume fraction of ellipsoidal microemulsion droplets increase. The internal structure of the droplets was revealed by contrast variation SANS, and it was shown that, despite the excess of the cationic surfactant, the radius of surfactant shell is controlled by the anionic surfactant with longer tail. These findings open a way for optimizing the performance of viscoelastic surfactant fluids by regulating both the mechanical properties of the fluids and their clean-up from the fracture induced by contact with hydrocarbons. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanotechnology Applied to the Oil Productivity Improvement and Enhancement of Oil Recovery)
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29 pages, 5264 KiB  
Article
Design and Tuning of Nanofluids Applied to Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery Based on the Surfactant–Nanoparticle–Brine Interaction: From Laboratory Experiments to Oil Field Application
by Carlos A. Franco, Lady J. Giraldo, Carlos H. Candela, Karla M. Bernal, Fabio Villamil, Daniel Montes, Sergio H. Lopera, Camilo A. Franco and Farid B. Cortés
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(8), 1579; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10081579 - 11 Aug 2020
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4155
Abstract
The primary objective of this study is to develop a novel experimental nanofluid based on surfactant–nanoparticle–brine tuning, subsequently evaluate its performance in the laboratory under reservoir conditions, then upscale the design for a field trial of the nanotechnology-enhanced surfactant injection process. Two different [...] Read more.
The primary objective of this study is to develop a novel experimental nanofluid based on surfactant–nanoparticle–brine tuning, subsequently evaluate its performance in the laboratory under reservoir conditions, then upscale the design for a field trial of the nanotechnology-enhanced surfactant injection process. Two different mixtures of commercial anionic surfactants (SA and SB) were characterized by their critical micelle concentration (CMC), density, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. Two types of commercial nanoparticles (CNA and CNB) were utilized, and they were characterized by SBET, FTIR spectra, hydrodynamic mean sizes (dp50), isoelectric points (pHIEP), and functional groups. The evaluation of both surfactant–nanoparticle systems demonstrated that the best performance was obtained with a total dissolved solid (TDS) of 0.75% with the SA surfactant and the CNA nanoparticles. A nanofluid formulation with 100 mg·L−1 of CNA provided suitable interfacial tension (IFT) values between 0.18 and 0.15 mN·m−1 for a surfactant dosage range of 750–1000 mg·L−1. Results obtained from adsorption tests indicated that the surfactant adsorption on the rock would be reduced by at least 40% under static and dynamic conditions due to nanoparticle addition. Moreover, during core flooding tests, it was observed that the recovery factor was increased by 22% for the nanofluid usage in contrast with a 17% increase with only the use of the surfactant. These results are related to the estimated capillary number of 3 × 10−5, 3 × 10−4, and 5 × 10−4 for the brine, the surfactant, and the nanofluid, respectively, as well as to the reduction in the surfactant adsorption on the rock which enhances the efficiency of the process. The field trial application was performed with the same nanofluid formulation in the two different injection patterns of a Colombian oil field and represented the first application worldwide of nanoparticles/nanofluids in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. The cumulative incremental oil production was nearly 30,035 Bbls for both injection patterns by May 19, 2020. The decline rate was estimated through an exponential model to be −0.104 month−1 before the intervention, to −0.016 month−1 after the nanofluid injection. The pilot was designed based on a production increment of 3.5%, which was successfully surpassed with this field test with an increment of 27.3%. This application is the first, worldwide, to demonstrate surfactant flooding assisted by nanotechnology in a chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) process in a low interfacial tension region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanotechnology Applied to the Oil Productivity Improvement and Enhancement of Oil Recovery)
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24 pages, 4319 KiB  
Article
Development of Nanofluids for the Inhibition of Formation Damage Caused by Fines Migration: Effect of the Interaction of Quaternary Amine (CTAB) and MgO Nanoparticles
by Rebeka Díez, Oscar E. Medina, Lady J. Giraldo, Farid B. Cortés and Camilo A. Franco
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(5), 928; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10050928 - 11 May 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3529
Abstract
Fines migration is a common problem in the oil and gas industry that causes a decrease in productivity. In this sense, the main objective of this study is to develop nanocomposites based on the interaction of quaternary amine (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide—CTAB) and MgO to [...] Read more.
Fines migration is a common problem in the oil and gas industry that causes a decrease in productivity. In this sense, the main objective of this study is to develop nanocomposites based on the interaction of quaternary amine (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide—CTAB) and MgO to enhance the capacity of retention of fine particles in the porous medium. MgO nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol–gel method using Mg(NO3)2·6H2O as a precursor. Nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), the point of zero charge (pHpzc), thermogravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Different nanoparticle sizes of 11.4, 42.8, and 86.2 nm were obtained, which were used for preparing two system nanofluids. These systems were evaluated in the inhibition of fines migration: in the system I MgO nanoparticles were dispersed in a CTAB-containing aqueous solution, and system II consists of a nanocomposite of CTAB adsorbed onto MgO nanoparticles. The fines retention tests were performed using Ottawa sand 20/40 packed beds and fine particles suspensions at concentrations of 0.2% in a mass fraction in deionized water. Individual and combined effects of nanoparticles and CTAB were evaluated in different treatment dosages. The analysis of the interactions between the CTAB and the MgO nanoparticles was carried out through batch-mode adsorption and desorption tests. The best treatment in the system I was selected according to the fines retention capacity and optimized through a simplex-centroid mixture design for mass fractions from 0.0% to 2.0% of both CTAB and MgO nanoparticles. This statistical analysis shows that the optimal concentration of these components is reached for a mass fraction of 0.73% of MgO nanoparticles and 0.74% in mass fraction of CTAB, where the retention capacity of the porous medium increases from 0.02 to 0.39 mg·L−1. Based on the experimental results, the nanofluids combining both components showed higher retention of fines than the systems treated only with CTAB or with MgO nanoparticles, with efficiencies up to 400% higher in the system I and higher up to 600% in the system II. To evaluate the best performance treatment under reservoir conditions, there were developed core flooding tests at fixed overburden pressure of 34.5 MPa, pore pressure at 6.9 MPa and system temperature at 93 °C. Obtaining critical rate increases in 142.8%, and 144.4% for water and oil flow in the presence of the nanofluid. In this sense, this work offers a new alternative for the injection of nanocomposites as a treatment for the problem of fines migration to optimize the productivity of oil and gas wells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanotechnology Applied to the Oil Productivity Improvement and Enhancement of Oil Recovery)
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