Salinity resistance of hydrophilic SiO2/SDS dispersions for foam stability and oil flooding effect: experiments and dynamics simulations

Abstract

The foam performance of hydrophilic nanoparticles SiO2/SDS (Sodium Dodecyl Sulfonate) foam about temperature and salinity had been assessed by experiments. The concentration of Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ ions on foaming volume and foam half-life were verified, and the mixing dispersions with Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ concentration of 8:1:1 was researched the IFT, elastic modulus and foam strength by FoamScan for plugging ability. The mixing dispersions of no salinity and Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ of 8:1:1 were used to verify the salinity effects on foam properties by building hydrophilic SiO2 nanoparticles at the Gas-liquid interface. The flooding ability of two different foam dispersions was compared to enhance oil recovery. The flooding ability of two surfactant dispersions to oil molecules was verified by building the oil flooding models. In conclusion, the best foam performance condition was 30°Cand the sensitivity to hydrophilic SiO2/SDS dispersions could be summed up as: Ca2+> Mg2+ > Na+, hydrophilic SiO2/SDS foam dispersions with Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ concentration of 8:1:1 had better foam stability and plugging ability at the salinity of 7.5 × 104∼12.5 × 104mg/L. The oil recovery increased from 53.62% to 68.54%, and simulation results showed that the removal of oil molecules was more efficient in mixed dispersions.