Abstract
Previously, condensate banking removal in gas reservoir is mitigated using chemical treatments to alter the wettability of the near-wellbore region. However, this technique performed unsatisfactorily as it reduces the surface free energy and affects the gas relative permeability negatively. Hence, alternative surface-modified nanoparticles using fluorine-based chemicals were developed as wettability alteration agents since fluorine exhibits a high degree of liquid repellency and nanoparticles introduce high surface roughness. The newly synthesized surface-modified nanoparticles were characterized using FTIR, DLS, FESEM, and TGA. FTIR results highlight the characteristic absorption of Si-O-C group at peak 1105 and 1106 cm-1 in both fluoroalkanoic acids, demonstrating that fluorochemical molecules have been successfully coated onto silica nanoparticles. Nanoparticle sizes measured by DLS reported higher value than FESEM due to agglomeration, and the DLS measurement was done in hydrodynamic conditions. TGA analysis reveals decomposition at temperature between 100 and 150°C, indicating that these surface-modified nanoparticles can be utilized in an environment below 100°C. Higher decomposition was perceived on PFNA-modified nanoparticles as a thicker coating of PFNA is shrouding the silica nanoparticles compared to PFOA. Implications of the results will path the way for future research direction in using fluorine-based surface-modified nanoparticles as wettability alteration agents.
Highlights
Previous research on wettability alteration only deals with chemical treatment
A substantial number of FG40 molecules can react with a single nanoparticle because there are so many OH groups on the surface of the nanoparticles. The combination of these findings provides some support for the conceptual premise that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) can be used successfully as the coating agent in fluorinatedmodified nanoparticles
Fluorochemical molecule is successfully coated onto silica nanoparticles, and this is shown in Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) results
Summary
Previous research on wettability alteration only deals with chemical treatment. Fluorochemical or fluorosurfactant is the exact name of the chemical that became the interest of many researchers [1,2,3,4,5,6] due to its electronegativity and reduction of surface free energy as the fluorine atoms network formed on the surface [7]. Wettability alteration is achieved by adsorption of a surface tension-reducing agent (fluorochemicals) that reduces the surface free energy and causes the repellency of another liquid. Almost all chemical treatment successfully increases the liquid relative permeability and decreases the irreducible liquid saturation. This treatment reduces the gas relative permeability, which is not favourable. Reduction of gas relative permeability will impede the gas well deliverability [3]
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