Electromagnetic field’s effect on enhanced oil recovery using magnetic nanoparticles: Microfluidic experimental approach

Abstract

The enhanced oil recovery methods such as thermal, chemical, and flooding methods have been utilized for increasing the production of residual oil in reservoirs. In recent years, some researches were conducted on newer methods such as injecting nanofluid and improving its performance utilizing new technologies, i.e., electromagnetic fields to improve oil recovery. In this study, the effect of the electromagnetic field on the oil recovery factor was investigated. First, Iron Oxide nanoparticle was synthesized by the co-precipitation technique and then its surface was functionalized using citric acid. Furthermore, Manganese Oxide nanoparticle which has not used in previous studies in enhanced oil recovery operations despite its suitable electromagnetic properties were used in this research. For analyzing the effect of nanoparticles and electromagnetic field on oil recovery, flooding experiments were performed in micromodel and the results of these experiments were compared to those of flooding without any effect by the electromagnetic field. The Iron Oxide nanoparticles showed better potential in comparison with Manganese Oxide nanoparticles in the oil recovery process. The results showed that by increase in nanoparticles concentration, the oil recovery increases up to 35.45% in the absence of the electromagnetic field. Also, it was observed that the presence of electromagnetic field dramatically increases the oil recovery factor by 79.83 percent. The critical factor for such growth in recovery is the decrease in oil viscosity by almost 950 centipoise, which is due to the temperature increase and possible cracking of heavier components of oil into lighter components. In addition, the Interfacial Tension between oil and nanofluid decreases with increasing the nanoparticles concentration by almost 16 mN/m.