Monitoring of microscopic behavior of nano-enhanced colloidal gas aphron in fractured and un-fractured non-uniform porous medium

Abstract

The present article aimed to examine the pore-scale examination of a fluid capability to block pores and fractures deduced by return permeability and the blocking ability of a novel lightweight Colloidal Gas Aphron Nano-Fluid (CGANF) in heterogeneous fractured/un-fractured porous medium. Silica (S) and fumed silica (FS) nanoparticles, Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) anionic surfactant, and Xanthan Gum (XG) bio-polymer were employed for following up CGANF bubbles' movements in incongruous micro-models’ inclusive crack. The transparent nature of the glass micro-model provides an intuition into the lenticular behavior of CGANF bubbles in the heterogeneous porous media. Differential pressure analysis through porous media during experiments demonstrated that opposition to the stream of CGANF bubbles increased as more CGANF fluid was injected. Also, the lamella division mechanism generated more small bubbles resulting in increasing differential pressure across porous micro-models. Contrasted to bigger CGANF bubbles, smaller CGANF bubbles had lesser movability. Therefore, they were key factors for blocking pores and throats of porous media and changed the orientation of bigger bubbles in cracks toward the matrix. Observations revealed that CGANF micron-bubbles built up through the porous media could set up an impressive snag to control loss of filtrate, and permeability of models was reverted almost to its primary permeability when saturation fluid was reinjected into micro-models. For the detailed analysis in this study, the maximum percentages of reverted permeability for fractured and un-fractured non-uniformed micro-models were attained 91.81% and 90.70%, respectively. Also, by increasing XG concentrations from 0.286 to 0.571% w/v, return permeability percentage increased from 84.4% to 87.4%. There was an optimum concentration of nanoparticles at 0.0571% w/v of silica and fumed silica, and consequently, returned permeability and infusion pressure of CGANF fluid reached their maximum values. Moreover, the stability of the CGANF fluid increased to 8.15% and 12.6% by adding silica and fumed silica nanoparticles, respectively, to the CGA fluid formulation without nanoparticles. This article presents a novel insight into porous media for analyzing blockage capability and controlling porous media damage created via CGANF-based fluids in non-uniformed environments. • Enhancing the behavior and properties of CGANF fluids. • Use of silica and fumed silica nanoparticles in CGANF fluids. • Controlling filtration loss by forming an effective seal using CGA/CGANF fluids. • Use of heterogeneous transparent glass micromodels for monitoring the bubbles flowin the pores and fracture by microscope. • Analysis of return permeability by high accurate pressure drop data through micromodel.