Muhammad Waseem Arshad

Characterization of Emulsion Formation With Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oil Recovery

DTU Orbit (13/10/2019) Characterization of Emulsion Formation With Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oil Recovery Characterization of emulsion formation (amount and droplet size) in the brine-oil-nanoparticle systems as a function of varying size of nanoparticles and modified brine salinity is presented. Different brines were used with a range from zero salinity for deionized water (DIW) to synthetic seawater (SSW), mimicking the salinity of North Sea water. Brines (FW1 and FW2) representing the composition of formation water obtained from different production wells (North Sea) were also used. Two model oils (decane (D) and hexane-hexadecane (HH) mixture of 1:1 vol. ratio) and a sample of North Sea crude oil (NSCO) were used. CaCO3 nanoparticles of three different sizes of 15-40, 50, and 90 nm were used. Nanoparticles characterization was performed with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). A commercially available sonication equipment, Branson Sonifier® SFX250, was employed for emulsion formation in brine-oil-nanoparticles systems. All the experiments were performed at room temperature for the same experimental conditions of 5 minutes of ultrasonic processing by using a 6.5 mm tapered microtip (sonication probe) with an output power of 30 W. Emulsion characterization (emulsion droplet size) was performed with an optical microscope (Axio Scope.A1).The effect of size of CaCO3 nanoparticles and brine salinity on emulsion formation was investigated for different brine-oil systems. The results showed that the emulsion formation in brine-model oil (D and HH) systems was an inverse function of the size of nanoparticles i.e., a large amount of emulsion formation was observed for the smaller sized nanoparticles and vice versa. Emulsion characterization for these systems showed that the emulsion droplet size increased with an increase in size of the nanoparticles. Copyright 2018, Society of Petroleum Engineers

Modified Brine Salinity and Nanoparticles Size-Dependent Emulsion Formation in Enhanced Oil Recovery

The effect of modified brine salinity and varying size of CaCO3 nanoparticles on emulsion formation was investigated for different brine-oil-nanoparticles systems. Emulsion formation experiments were performed by employing a commercially available sonication equipment, Branson Sonifier® SFX250. The brine salinity showed a significant effect on emulsion formation in decane-brine-nanoparticles (50 nm CaCO3) systems i.e., a decrease in brine salinity showed an increase in emulsion formation and correspondingly smaller size of emulsion droplets. Similarly, decane-brine (deionized water) sonicated with different size of CaCO3 nanoparticles (15-40, 50, and 90 nm) showed that emulsion formation is inversely related to the size of nanoparticles i.e., increases with a decrease in size of nanoparticles and correspondingly smaller size of emulsion droplets. Emulsion results will be presented for different model and crude oils sonicated with brines of different salinity (North Sea water, deionised water, and formation water) in the presence of three different sizes of CaCO3 nanoparticles (15-40, 50, and 90 nm). Emulsion characterization of brine-oil-CaCO3 nanoparticles systems presented in this work will help in understating the interaction of CaCO3 nanoparticles with brine-oil in the chalk reservoirs and its potential application in enhanced oil recovery.