TY - JOUR
T1 - Low-energy emulsification of oil-in-water emulsions with self-regulating mobility via a nanoparticle surfactant
AU - Liu, Rui
AU - Pu, Wanfen
AU - Lu, Yuanyuan
AU - Lian, Kunlin
AU - Sun, Lin
AU - Du, Daijun
AU - Song, Yuyang
AU - Sheng, James J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Chemical Society
PY - 2020/10/14
Y1 - 2020/10/14
N2 - Oil-field chemists and engineers have searched a method for intelligent flooding of chemical-intervention-based processes with self-regulating mobility in subterranean areas for decades. By designing hydrophilic nanoparticles (amine-terminated nanosilica particles (ATNPs)) and nonionic surfactant laurel monoanolamide (LEMA) molecules with complementary hydrogen bonding functionalities that bind one another at the oil-water interface, we developed a route to in situ oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions without a phase inversion point. Apparent viscosities of the O/W emulsions demonstrated a negative relationship to oil saturation and a positive relationship to water saturation over a broad range of water saturations from 30 to 78%. These emulsions are produced by low-energy emulsification, simply accomplished by mild shaking for tens of seconds. The total concentration of the nanoparticle surfactant is 7000 mg/L, much lower than reported in the previous literature. We show that a local turbulent eddy of the immiscible fluids provides sufficient energy and time for the nanoparticle surfactant to create O/W emulsions since their morphology, droplet size distribution, rheology, and stability are similar to those produced by high-energy emulsification using a high-shear rotor stator mixer. Emulsification kinetics and physical model tests demonstrate the synergistic effect of ATNPs and LEMA on arresting Ostwald ripening, increasing capillary numbers, and self-controlling the displacement frontier of these emulsions. This system produced a high oil recovery efficiency of a three-layer heterogeneous square core with an incremental oil recovery factor of 33.7% original oil in place (OOIP) and an ultimate recovery factor of 72.1% OOIP when the water cut of the earlier water flooding exceeds 98%. This work paves a pathway to the production of smart in situ O/W emulsions using nanoparticle surfactants for industrial oil recovery applications.
AB - Oil-field chemists and engineers have searched a method for intelligent flooding of chemical-intervention-based processes with self-regulating mobility in subterranean areas for decades. By designing hydrophilic nanoparticles (amine-terminated nanosilica particles (ATNPs)) and nonionic surfactant laurel monoanolamide (LEMA) molecules with complementary hydrogen bonding functionalities that bind one another at the oil-water interface, we developed a route to in situ oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions without a phase inversion point. Apparent viscosities of the O/W emulsions demonstrated a negative relationship to oil saturation and a positive relationship to water saturation over a broad range of water saturations from 30 to 78%. These emulsions are produced by low-energy emulsification, simply accomplished by mild shaking for tens of seconds. The total concentration of the nanoparticle surfactant is 7000 mg/L, much lower than reported in the previous literature. We show that a local turbulent eddy of the immiscible fluids provides sufficient energy and time for the nanoparticle surfactant to create O/W emulsions since their morphology, droplet size distribution, rheology, and stability are similar to those produced by high-energy emulsification using a high-shear rotor stator mixer. Emulsification kinetics and physical model tests demonstrate the synergistic effect of ATNPs and LEMA on arresting Ostwald ripening, increasing capillary numbers, and self-controlling the displacement frontier of these emulsions. This system produced a high oil recovery efficiency of a three-layer heterogeneous square core with an incremental oil recovery factor of 33.7% original oil in place (OOIP) and an ultimate recovery factor of 72.1% OOIP when the water cut of the earlier water flooding exceeds 98%. This work paves a pathway to the production of smart in situ O/W emulsions using nanoparticle surfactants for industrial oil recovery applications.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096206707&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c03153
DO - 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c03153
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096206707
SN - 0888-5885
VL - 59
SP - 18396
EP - 18411
JO - Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
JF - Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
IS - 41
ER -