The effect of silica nanoparticle aggregates on wax dissolution in diesel oil

Abstract

In recent years, silica nanoparticle aggregates (SNPAs) have been used to decrease the injection pressure of wells in low permeability reservoirs achieving good results. In order to study the mechanisms for reduction in the injection pressure of low permeability wells by the SNPA-diesel oil system injection, the microstructure of SNPAs was observed with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The particle size distribution of SNPAs was also measured by the laser scattering method. The viscosities of diesel oil and SNPA-diesel oil system were measured with a capillary viscometer. The effect of SNPAs on the solubility of wax in the diesel oil was experimentally studied. The influencing factors, including temperature and SNPA concentration in diesel oil, on wax solubility were analyzed. A pore-throat film displacement model (PTFDM) was built for mechanism explanation. The microstructure and size distribution analyses show that the SNPAs are in the nanometer size range. The viscosity of the SNPA-diesel oil system is lower than that of the diesel oil. The solubility of wax in the diesel oil increases greatly due to SNPA addition, the solubility ratio reaches 7.5. The solubility of wax in diesel oil increases with increases in the concentration of SNPAs in the diesel oil and with the temperature. It is proved that the addition of SNPAs to diesel oil helps remove the wax deposited near the wellbore. This maybe one of the main mechanisms for injection pressure decreases in low permeability reservoirs.