Enhanced oil recovery using nanoparticle-stabilized oil/water emulsions

Abstract

We experimentally investigated nanoparticle-stabilized emulsions for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications. The emulsions were injected into a silica bead column containing mineral oil, and the oil recovery was calculated using a mass-balance approach. The experiments were carried out as follows: 1) The emulsions were injected into a column with 100% water saturation to investigate the mobility of the water and emulsions, 2) Water flooding was then carried out at initial oil and water saturation, and the emulsion flooding was injected to calculate the enhancement in the oil recovery rate. The results indicate that the nanoparticle-stabilized emulsions increased the oil recovery rate by 11% after water flooding. The mechanism for this is attributed to a greater pressure difference across the porous medium, leading to oil remaining in the pores being produced via a piston effect. These results indicate that nanoparticle-stabilized emulsions may be effective EOR agents.