RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CURVES AND WETTABILITY ALTERATIONS BY ALUMINA NANO PARTICLES FLOODING

Abstract

Nanotechnology was proposed as a new Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technique for its great potential of increasing oil recovery either in secondary or tertiary recovery stage. Several types of nanoparticles have been used for different applications in the EOR. The recovery mechanisms of such improvement of these nano particles are still need more research to be interpreted. From these suspected parameter the rock wettability and relative permeability alteration. Moreover, these nanoparticles can be used in different concentration and different sizes in the EOR project. Consequently, it is very important to study the effect of these factors on the incremental oil recovery in order to create a successful EOR operations. To achieve some of these concerns, a series of core flooding experiments was conducted to study the effect of Alumina nanofluid concentration in the displacing brine on the relative permeability curves, rock wettability and finally the ultimate recovery factor. During core flooding experiments, a sandstone core was used and all pertinent and required parameters are monitored and recorded. The relative permeability to oil and water were calculated, and the contact angle was measured to check the degree of the rock wettability while using this nanofluid as an additive to the displacing water. The base run was performed using water to be used as a secondary recovery base run. The ultimate recovery factor by water flooding was found to be 60.38 % of the OOIP. Then a flooding process using Alumina nanofluid, as an additive to the displacing water, has been conducted with five different concentrations (3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 g/L). The ultimate recovery factor was calculated for all concentrations and has been found to be74.38%, 75.09%, 76.13%, 81.13%, and 61.70% respectively. The drawback in the ultimate recovery of 15 g/L run has been addressed and explained while the best concentration was the 10 g/L Alumina nanofluid which led to a 20.75 % oil recovery over that of water flooding. The main recovery mechanisms are addressed and expected. The relative permeability curves for all of these experimental runs were measured at different nano alumina concentrations and compared to each other. The contact angle (as a mean to evaluate the wettability alteration) was measured in order to investigate the effect of this nano fluid on the rock wettability. It was found that those rocks became more water wet after using Alumina nanofluid. This work investigates and analyzes the new outcomes from implementing Alumina nanofluid for EOR. Ultimately, the knowledge gained from this work can be used as a guide to interpret and define the Nanofluids improvement mechanisms and help in drawing a road map for ongoing and future work.