Improving Simultaneous Water Alternative Associate Gas Tests in the Presence of Newly Synthesized γ‑Al2O3/ZnO/Urea Nano-Composites: An Experimental Core Flooding Tests

Abstract

Nano-composites positively impact subsurface porous media’s properties during enhanced oil recovery. In this paper, γ-Al2O3/ZnO/urea nano-composites were selected to improve simultaneous water alternative associate gas (SWAG) tests based on better results in comparison to pure γ-Al2O3 in the static phase. According to the interfacial tension (lowest), contact angle (lowest), zeta potential (highest absolute value), and viscosity (lowest) tests in the presence of nano-composites, 80 ppm was chosen as the optimum concentration (OP) to perform SWAG experiments. The interfacial tension (mN m−1) and contact angle (°) values of nano-fluids at concentrations of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 ppm were higher than that of alumina and were (27.50, 130.12), (24.38, 80.32), (21.63, 70.98), (15.63, 40.69), (10.75, 8.50), and (6.80, 46.01) mN m−1, respectively. It was evident that considering effective, efficient parameters before performing the main SWAG test was important, and due to using OP, the recovery factor increased from 55.9 to 83.1% at a constant SWAG ratio (1:1) and temperature (40 °C). Furthermore, higher instant oil and lower produced water were seen as OP during the nano-composite-assisted SWAG test at 80 ppm. [Figure presented].