“Application of Nanoparticles in Enhanced Oil Recovery”
Abstract:
The oil and gas resources are depleting worldwide and there is a high demand for novel enhanced/improved oil recovery (EOR/IOR) methods to recover more oil from the existing petroleum reservoirs.
Application of nanoparticles for EOR/IOR is one of the emerging techniques amongst others e.g., low salinity water flooding and SmartWater flooding.
These methods reported wettability alteration as the main mechanism behind increased oil recovery. However, the formation of water-soluble oil emulsions in the presence of insoluble fines has also been reported as a possible working mechanism.
The aim of this project is to investigate emulsion formation behavior, their screening and characterization in different brine-oil systems in the presence of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanoparticles.
An overview of the project will be presented in the seminar including the path covered, some recent results, and further development.