Experimentally investigation of the effects of nanoparticles‐enriched ASP formulations on the spontaneous imbibition in a fractured sandstone reservoir

Abstract

AbstractAmong the chemical methods used in oil industry to boost the ultimate oil recovery, ASP (alkaline surfactant polymer) flooding has gained much attention because of beneficial effects related to simultaneous usage of three different chemical agents. This study is devoted to investigate the separate influences of each chemical agent in the ASP on the attained oil recovery. Furthermore, four different ASP formulations are prepared, and effects of hydrophilic nanoparticles are examined on the ASP spontaneous imbibition process. The utilized core sample in all experiment series belongs to one of the Iranian‐fractured sandstone reservoirs. Interfacial tension and contact angle measurements were also included in the experiments to investigate the effects of chemical solutions as well as hydrophilic nanoparticles on the indicated parameters. Results of the experiments indicate that ASP is an appropriate Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) approach not only because effects of each chemical agent on the recovered oil but also because beneficial effects relevant to combination of these chemical solutions. It was also revealed that inclusion of the nanoparticles can significantly increase the ultimate oil recovery because of additional decrease in the interfacial tension of the system and altering the rock's wettability toward a more water‐wetted one. Therefore, inclusion of the nanoparticles in the ASP systems should be considered for future ASP implementing schemes. © 2015 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.