Experimental investigation of SiO2 nanoparticles on enhanced oil recovery of carbonate reservoirs

Abstract

Wettability alteration is an important method to increase oil recovery from oil-wet carbonate reservoirs. Chemical agents are used as wettability modifiers in carbonate systems; however, the role of Nanoparticles in this field is still in its infancy and consequently has attracted the attention of many researchers in the last decade. In this work, the impact of SiO2 Nanoparticles on the wettability of a carbonate reservoir rock was experimentally studied. The impact of these Nanoparticles on the wettability of carbonate systems is still in its infancy. For this purpose, the effect of Nanofluid’s concentration on wettability and interfacial tension were investigated to determine the optimum concentration of Nanofluid for injection into core samples. The result suggests that a concentration of 4 g/L of Nanofluid could significantly alter the wettability of the rock from a strongly oil-wet to a strongly water-wet condition. Moreover, we studied the Nanofluids’ potential in enhanced oil recovery of oil-wet core plugs. The results show that a considerable amount of oil can be recovered right after start of water injection to the aged core plug with Nano fluid.