Experimental investigation into effects of the natural polymer and nanoclay particles on the EOR performance of chemical flooding in carbonate reservoirs

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the tragacanth gum potential as a natural polymer combined with natural clay mineral (montmorillonite, kaolinite, and illite) nanoparticles (NPs) to form NP–polymer suspension for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in carbonate reservoirs. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) tests were conducted initially in order to evaluate the properties of tragacanth gum. Subsequently, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) tests were used to detect the structure of clay particles. In various scenarios, the effects of natural NPs and polymer on the wettability alteration, interfacial tension (IFT) reduction, viscosity improvement, and oil recovery were investigated through contact angle system, ring method, AntonPaar viscometer, and core flooding tests, respectively. The entire experiment was conducted at 25, 50, and 75 °C, respectively. According to the experimental results, the clay minerals alone did not have a significant effect on viscosity, but the addition of minerals to the polymer solution leads to the viscosity enhancement remarkably, resulting mobility ratio improvement. Among clay NPs, the combination of natural polymer and kaolinite results in increased viscosity at all temperatures. Considerable wettability alteration was also observed in the case of natural polymer and illite NPs. Illite in combination with natural polymer showed an ability in reducing IFT. Finally, the results of displacement experiments revealed that the combination of natural polymer and kaolinite could be the best option for EOR due to its substantial ability to improve the recovery factor.