Control of Asphaltene Aggregation in Reservoir Model Oils along the Production Streamline by Fe3O4 and NiO Nanoparticles

Abstract

Iron oxide (Fe3O4) and nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles were employed to control the aggregation of asphaltenes in reservoir model oils along the production streamline from the far-field region to near-wellbore area to wellbore conditions. Fe3O4 and NiO nanoparticles with an average particle size of 30 and 78 nm, respectively, were synthesized via a simple precipitation method and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy imaging techniques. Asphaltenes were extracted from an Iranian heavy oil sample, and their structure and functional groups were characterized. The asphaltenes were dissolved in toluene at a concentration of 400 mg/L, designated as reservoir model oil. The average size of the asphaltene nanoaggregates in the model oil, as determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS), is 18 nm, representative of the size of asphaltene aggregates in reservoir oils. The nanoparticles were ad...