Synthesis and modification of graphene nanofluid surface in terms of wettability alteration of carbonate reservoir rock

Abstract

ABSTRACT One of the advanced proceedings in the petroleum industry is the use of nanotechnology for better oil recovery. Therefore, in this study, Nano-Graphene (NG) was firstly synthesized by the Hummer’s method and then modified its surface by using a new type of compound called NEA, which is an abbreviation for N-(1-Naphthyl)ethylenediamine. Then, the effect of Nano-surface modification in graphene materials on the wettability alteration at a Carbonate Reservoir Rock scale under reservoir conditions was investigated. The results of these experiments show that the use of modified graphene Nanofluids reduces the contact angle. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy methods (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to identify the synthesized nanomaterials and to determine the microstructure of the samples. According to the results of the contact angle experiments, nanofluids with concentrations of 0.0095, 0.025, 0.075 and 0.1 wt% have been prepared in these experiments. The results of these experiments indicate that the G-NEA nanofluid has an effective feedback on the wettability alteration from oil-wet to water-wet state of carbonate reservoir rock.