Efficient Oil Removal of Polymer Flooding Produced Sewerage Using Super-Hydrophobic Mesh Filtration Method

Wanli Kang,Zhe Li,Hailu Gebremariam,Hongbin Yang,Xin Kang

doi:10.3390/colloids4030032

Abstract

During the past 20 years, polymer flooding has become a successful enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique for mature reservoirs with high water cut and recovery percent around the world. However, the high bulk viscosity of polymer solutions could slow down the separation rate of the crude oil emulsion and make it difficult to treat the produced fluid. Consequently, the efficient removal of oil from the polymer flooding produced sewerage has still drawn significant concern. In this research, a high flux super-hydrophobic copper mesh was prepared using two-stage processes to treat the sewerage from polymer flooding. The surface of the super-hydrophobic mesh was characterized using various techniques including scanning electron microscope (SEM), OCA 20-contact angle goniometer, etc. Accordingly, the static contact angle of the super-hydrophobic copper mesh reached up to 165°. Moreover, the performances of the mesh were systematically evaluated under different internal and external factors such as oil to water volume ratio, polymer concentration, shear rate, and pH. The corresponding configuration and separation mechanisms are further explained in detail. The prepared superhydrophobic mesh can be a potential candidate for sewerage with both a polymer solution and crude oil.

Highlights

Since the depletion of petroleum hydrocarbon reservoirs in the world has progressively increased during the past decades, it is believed that enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies will play significant roles to secure the growing energy demands in the coming years [1]
The current study focuses on the relationship between the microstructures and the macroscopic separation rules of the super-hydrophobic mesh as well as investigates the basic separation mechanism with the influence of different internal and external factors
Wettability of the unmodified and modified copper mesh surface plays a significant role in the separation o(af )oily–wastewater

Summary

Introduction

Since the depletion of petroleum hydrocarbon reservoirs in the world has progressively increased during the past decades, it is believed that enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies will play significant roles to secure the growing energy demands in the coming years [1]. During the polymer flooding process, polymer (partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, HPAM) is dissolved in water to increase the bulk viscosity prior to water injection into the formation. The increased water viscosity could lower the mobility ratio of water to oil, increasing the volumetric sweep efficiency [4,5]. Some studies have shown that polymer solutions could increase the displacing efficiency of residual oils [6,7]. Industrial experiences indicate that polymer flooding can increase oil recovery by up to 12% and play a significant role in oil exploitation

Methods

Results

Conclusion