The Potential Application of MnZn Ferrite Nanofluids for Wettability Alteration and Oil-Water Interfacial Tension Reduction

Nurul Afiqah Mohd Mokhtar,Kean Chuan Lee,Hoe Guan Beh

doi:10.3390/cryst9120626

Abstract

Recently, a non-invasive method of injecting magnetic/dielectric nanofluids into the oil reservoir was used for oil recovery application. The use of magnetic nanofluids in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) has been reported to improve oil recovery. It is believed that the magnetic properties of nanoparticles (NPs) have a direct influence on the viscosity and wettability of nanofluid, and on oil-water interfacial tension (IFT). Thus, Mn0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 (MnZn) ferrites may be a good candidate to be used in nanofluids for wettability alteration and oil-water IFT reduction due to their excellent magnetic properties, such as a high initial permeability and low magnetic losses. Therefore, this work investigated the potential of MnZn ferrite NPs to alter viscosity, wettability, and oil-water IFT. MnZn Ferrite NPs have been synthesized by a sol-gel auto-combustion process. The effects of calcination temperature varying from 300 °C to 700 °C on the phase formation, microstructures such as surface morphology, and magnetic characterizations were studied. MnZn ferrite nanofluids were prepared using synthesized MnZn NPs that dispersed into brine along with sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) as a dispersant, and their effects on the wettability and oil-water IFT were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements revealed that MnZn ferrite calcined at 300 °C and 400 °C were single phase. The average crystallite size calculated through Scherrer’s equation differed from 32.0 to 87.96 nm. The results showed that the nanofluid with MnZn particles calcined at 300 °C is the best nanofluid in terms of IFT reduction and base nanofluid’s wettability alteration. Moreover, the overall results proved that nanofluid with MnZn ferrite NPs can alter the wettability of base nanofluid, oil-nanofluid IFT, and nanofluid viscosity. This study provides insights towards a better understanding of the potential application of MnZn Ferrite nanofluids to Wettability Alteration and IFT Reduction in Enhanced Oil Recovery.

Highlights

Various techniques were implemented to increase the amount of crude oil extracted from an oil field, and it is strongly believed that Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technology can accommodate future energy demand [1,2]
Structural, morphological, and magnetic properties of MnZn ferrite NPs were investigated for different calcination temperature
Mn-Zn ferrite particles were successfully synthesized at various calcination temperatures through a sol-gel auto-combustion technique

Summary

Introduction

Various techniques were implemented to increase the amount of crude oil extracted from an oil field, and it is strongly believed that Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technology can accommodate future energy demand [1,2]. The contribution to the recovery of oil by Nanoparticles (NPs) is due to the reduction in the interfacial tension between wetting fluid and oil and the increase in viscosity of the displacing fluid that causes greater oil recovery [7,8]. Some NPs such as zinc oxide (ZnO), aluminum oxide (Al2 O3 ), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2 ), and silicon oxide (SiO2 ) have proven their ability as efficient EOR agents for interfacial tension (IFT). Ogolo et al [6] studied the usefulness of magnetic/dielectric NPs (ZnO, Al2 O3 , NiO, SiO2 and MgO) in different base fluids including brine, distilled ethanol, and distilled water for EOR

Methods

Results

Conclusion