Interaction of Nanoparticles with Reservoir Fluids and Rocks …
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suspended solids in the liquid. A gel is a solid macromolecule present in the liquid.
The precursor is dispersed in the liquid by the help of sonicator, and later stage, the
phase separation takes place to segregate nanoparticles.
Pyrolysis
It is the most widely used method for bulk production of nanoparticles in industries. It is carried out by burning a precursor with the help of flame. The precursor
is either liquid or vapor that is fed into the furnace under high pressure through
a small hole where it burns (Kammler et al. 2001). Combustion of precursor result
production of certain undesired gases which are later separated to isolate the nanoparticles. A handful number of industries use plasma instead of flame to produce high
temperature.
2.4 Characterization of Nanoparticles
There are different characterization methods that have been adopted for characterizing the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles. The characterization process
determines the potential and application of nanoparticles. Some of the techniques
are discussed in Table 1.
3 Enhanced Oil Recovery
There are potential numbers of improved oil recovery processes in practice employed
by the oil and gas industries. Some of them have been described in the introduction
section. However, single EOR method cannot be adopted for all kinds of formations,
which is because of the variable characteristic of reservoir structure which may be due
to the presence of different types of rocks in particular and distinct characteristics of
the crude oil. Injection of surfactant for enhanced oil recovery is one of the common
EOR methods which is observed by all the industries throughout the world. This
process generally comes under chemical injection categories. Proper selection of
surfactant based on the intense study of their interaction with rock mineralogy and
crude oil can enhance the oil recovery, or else awful situations may develop leading
to a decrease in oil recovery. Literature review suggests the following points to be
considered for enhanced oil recovery.
• Reduction of interfacial tension between water and oil phase.
• Alteration of wettability, i.e., from oil-wet rock surface to water-wet.
• Reduction of the viscosity of crude oil system.
• Reduction in density of the oil phase.
307
suspended solids in the liquid. A gel is a solid macromolecule present in the liquid.
The precursor is dispersed in the liquid by the help of sonicator, and later stage, the
phase separation takes place to segregate nanoparticles.
Pyrolysis
It is the most widely used method for bulk production of nanoparticles in industries. It is carried out by burning a precursor with the help of flame. The precursor
is either liquid or vapor that is fed into the furnace under high pressure through
a small hole where it burns (Kammler et al. 2001). Combustion of precursor result
production of certain undesired gases which are later separated to isolate the nanoparticles. A handful number of industries use plasma instead of flame to produce high
temperature.
2.4 Characterization of Nanoparticles
There are different characterization methods that have been adopted for characterizing the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles. The characterization process
determines the potential and application of nanoparticles. Some of the techniques
are discussed in Table 1.
3 Enhanced Oil Recovery
There are potential numbers of improved oil recovery processes in practice employed
by the oil and gas industries. Some of them have been described in the introduction
section. However, single EOR method cannot be adopted for all kinds of formations,
which is because of the variable characteristic of reservoir structure which may be due
to the presence of different types of rocks in particular and distinct characteristics of
the crude oil. Injection of surfactant for enhanced oil recovery is one of the common
EOR methods which is observed by all the industries throughout the world. This
process generally comes under chemical injection categories. Proper selection of
surfactant based on the intense study of their interaction with rock mineralogy and
crude oil can enhance the oil recovery, or else awful situations may develop leading
to a decrease in oil recovery. Literature review suggests the following points to be
considered for enhanced oil recovery.
• Reduction of interfacial tension between water and oil phase.
• Alteration of wettability, i.e., from oil-wet rock surface to water-wet.
• Reduction of the viscosity of crude oil system.
• Reduction in density of the oil phase.