Abstract
A thermoresponsive system of a nanoemulsion-based gel with favorable characteristics to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) application is presented. A full factorial design study with different formulations of thermosensitive nanoemulsion-based gels was performed to assess the influence of the oil chain length, concentration of polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) and concentration of oil on the rheological behavior of the system. A formulation with low viscosity at room temperature and high viscosity at the temperature of the oil extraction well was presented. Hexane (6-carbon chain), capric acid (10-carbon chain) and isopropyl myristate (17-carbon chain) were used in concentrations of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% wt%, also varying the concentration of PEG 400 in 0%, 3%, 6% and 9% wt%. The thermosensitive polymer used was a mixture of Pluronic® F-127 and Pluronic® F-68 6:1 wt% at 4.7% concentration. The surfactants used were Tween 80 and Span 80 (HLB = 13) at 20%. The formulation containing 20% isopropyl myristate (IPM) without the addition of PEG 400 showed a better response, with an increase in viscosity of more than 38 times in relation to its viscosity at 25 °C, and the maximum viscosity was reached at 53 °C. This is a promising formulation for EOR technology.
Highlights
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a technique that consists in the application of methods that improve the recovery process and increases the amount of crude oil extracted from an oil field
A total of 48 experiments were performed in randomized order to determine the effect of the factors [concentration of polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG 400) (%PEG), concentration of oil (%Oil) and oil chain length (CL)] on four characteristic responses: viscosity of the system (η) at 25 °C, temperature at which the maximum viscosity was reached, maximum increase in viscosity and droplet size
The increase in viscosity of samples with peak temperature below 25 °C is marked as 0% because in EOR the pumping process usually occurs at room temperature, all samples showed an increase in viscosity somewhere between 5 °C and 70 °C
Summary
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a technique that consists in the application of methods that improve the recovery process and increases the amount of crude oil extracted from an oil field. The flooding of oil extraction wells with polymers represents one of the chemical processes of EOR In this process, water-soluble polymers are used to modify rheological properties of displacement fluid, improving the rate of oil mobility and, the efficiency of the process [5]. Thermosensitive polymers are interesting for EOR application due to the characteristics of their structure They consist of a hydrophilic main chain with hydrophobic side chains and are considered alternative viscosifying agents for high temperature and high salinity conditions [11, 12]. In these polymers, thermosensitive monomers with low critical solubility temperature (LCST) are incorporated into the main polymer chain. The LCST, the formation of physical networks occurs as these monomers rearrange
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