The effect of surfactant concentration on nanoparticles surface wettability during wettability alteration of oil-wet carbonate rock

Wan Mohd Shaharizuan Mat Latif; M. S. M. Musa; A.S.M. Balakirisnan; W. R. W. Sulaiman

doi:10.15282/jmes.15.2.2021.05.0630

Authors

W.M.S.M. Latif School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Phone: +6075535555; Fax: +6075581463
M. S. M. Musa School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
A.S.M. Balakirisnan School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
W. R. W. Sulaiman School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15282/jmes.15.2.2021.05.0630

Keywords:

Nanoparticles, surfactant, in-situ surface activation, hydrophobicity, wettability alteration

Abstract

Previous studies reported that the presence of surfactant increases nanoparticles surface wettability by in-situ surface activation. On the other hand, the excess of surfactant concentration has an inverse effect on particle hydrophobicity by altering it to be hydrophilic back. Hence, this study presents an experimental investigation of wettability alteration by using a surfactant-nanoparticles system by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant, and hydrophilic silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and partially hydrophobic silicon dioxide (PH SiO₂) nanoparticles. The nanoparticles surface wettability and the wettability alteration of oil-wet carbonate rock were measured by using the contact angle method. The result shows that the contact angle of the oil-wet carbonate rock was most reduced by using CTAB-hydrophilic SiO₂, from 112.00^o to 28.35^o. The excess of surfactant concentration (beyond CMC) shows an inverse effect on particle surface wettability, however, induces the water-wetness of the carbonate rock. Besides, the hydrophilic SiO₂ shows a more effective effect as a wettability modifier than the PH SiO₂, in the absence and presence of CTAB or SDS surfactant.

References

T. Vanorio, C. Scotellaro, and G. Mavko, "The effect of chemical and physical processes on the acoustic properties of carbonate rocks," The Leading Edge. vol. 27, no. 8, pp. 1040-1048, 2008, doi: 10.1190/1.2967558.

T.P. Burchette, "Carbonate rocks and petroleum reservoirs: A geological perspective from the industry," Geological Society, London, Special Publications. vol. 370, no. 1, pp. 17-37, 2012, doi: 10.1144/SP370.14.

H. ShamsiJazeyi, et al., "Polymer‐coated nanoparticles for enhanced oil recovery," Journal of applied polymer science. vol. 131, no. 15, 2014, doi: 10.1002/app.40576.

D.C. Standnes and T. Austad, "Wettability alteration in chalk: 2. Mechanism for wettability alteration from oil-wet to water-wet using surfactants," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 123-143, 2000, doi: 10.1016/S0920-4105(00)00084-X.

D.C. Standnes and T. Austad, "Wettability alteration in carbonates: Interaction between cationic surfactant and carboxylates as a key factor in wettability alteration from oil-wet to water-wet conditions," Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. vol. 216, no. 1-3, pp. 243-259, 2003, doi: 10.1016/S0927-7757(02)00580-0.

K. Jarrahian, et al., "Wettability alteration of carbonate rocks by surfactants: A mechanistic study," Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. vol. 410, pp. 1-10, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2012.06.007.

B. Hou, Y. Wang, and Y. Huang, "Mechanistic study of wettability alteration of oil-wet sandstone surface using different surfactants," Applied Surface Science. vol. 330, pp. 56-64, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.12.185.

T. Austad and D.C. Standnes, "Spontaneous imbibition of water into oil-wet carbonates," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. vol. 39, no. 3-4, pp. 363-376, 2003, doi: 10.1016/S0920-4105(03)00075-5.

A. Esfandyari Bayat, et al., "Impact of metal oxide nanoparticles on enhanced oil recovery from limestone media at several temperatures," Energy & Fuels. vol. 28, no. 10, pp. 6255-6266, 2014, doi: 10.1021/ef5013616.

L. Hendraningrat and O. Torsæter, "Metal oxide-based nanoparticles: Revealing their potential to enhance oil recovery in different wettability systems," Applied Nanoscience. vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 181-199, 2015, doi: 10.1007/s13204-014-0305-6.

R. Nazari Moghaddam, et al., "Comparative study of using nanoparticles for enhanced oil recovery: Wettability alteration of carbonate rocks," Energy & Fuels. vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 2111-2119, 2015, doi: 10.1021/ef5024719.

D. Wasan, A. Nikolov, and K. Kondiparty, "The wetting and spreading of nanofluids on solids: Role of the structural disjoining pressure," Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science. vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 344-349, 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.cocis.2011.02.001.

A. Agi, R. Junin, and A. Gbadamosi, "Mechanism governing nanoparticle flow behaviour in porous media: Insight for enhanced oil recovery applications," International Nano Letters. vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 49-77, 2018, doi: 10.1007/s40089-018-0237-3.

M. Karimi, et al., "Investigating wettability alteration during MEOR process, a micro/macro scale analysis," Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. vol. 95, pp. 129-136, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2012.02.035.

A. Dehghan Monfared, et al., "Potential application of silica nanoparticles for wettability alteration of oil–wet calcite: A mechanistic study," Energy & Fuels. vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 3947-3961, 2016, doi: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b00477.

S. Al-Anssari, et al., "Wettability alteration of oil-wet carbonate by silica nanofluid," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. vol. 461, pp. 435-442, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.09.051.

A. Maghzi, et al., "Monitoring wettability alteration by silica nanoparticles during water flooding to heavy oils in five-spot systems: A pore-level investigation," Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science. vol. 40, pp. 168-176, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2012.03.004.

A.D. Monfared, et al., "Adsorption of silica nanoparticles onto calcite: Equilibrium, kinetic, thermodynamic and DLVO analysis," Chemical Engineering Journal. vol. 281, pp. 334-344, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2015.06.104.

M.S. Mohammadi, J. Moghadasi, and S. Naseri, "An experimental investigation of wettability alteration in carbonate reservoir using γ-Al2O3 nanoparticles," Iranian Journal of Oil & Gas Science and Technology. vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 18-26, 2014, doi: 10.22050/ijogst.2014.6034.

C. Gu, Q. Di, and H. Fang, "Slip velocity model of porous walls absorbed by hydrophobic nanoparticles SiO2," Journal of Hydrodynamics. vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 365-371, 2007, doi: 10.1016/S1001-6058(07)60071-7.

N. Ogolo, O. Olafuyi, and M. Onyekonwu. Enhanced oil recovery using nanoparticles. in SPE Saudi Arabia Section Technical Symposium and Exhibition. 2012. Society of Petroleum Engineers doi: 10.2118/160847-MS.

S. Ehsan Eshraghi, et al., "Investigating effect of SiO2 nanoparticle and sodium-dodecyl-sulfate surfactant on surface properties: Wettability alteration and ift reduction," Journal of Petroleum & Environmental Biotechnology. vol. 8, pp. 2, 2017, doi: 10.4172/2157-7463.1000349.

N. Yekeen, et al., "Synergistic influence of nanoparticles and surfactants on interfacial tension reduction, wettability alteration and stabilization of oil-in-water emulsion," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. vol. 186, pp. 106779, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106779.

B. Ju and T. Fan, "Experimental study and mathematical model of nanoparticle transport in porous media," Powder Technology. vol. 192, no. 2, pp. 195-202, 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.powtec.2008.12.017.

N. Yekeen, et al., "Experimental investigation of minimization in surfactant adsorption and improvement in surfactant-foam stability in presence of silicon dioxide and aluminum oxide nanoparticles," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. vol. 159, pp. 115-134, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2017.09.021.

M.O. Onyekonwu and N.A. Ogolo. Investigating the use of nanoparticles in enhancing oil recovery. in Nigeria Annual international conference and exhibition. 2010. Society of Petroleum Engineers doi: 10.2118/140744-MS.

F. Tang, et al., "The effect of SiO2 particles upon stabilization of foam," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. vol. 131, no. 2, pp. 498-502, 1989, doi: 10.1016/0021-9797(89)90192-6.

A.I. Abdel-Fattah and M.S. El-Genk, "On colloidal particle sorption onto a stagnant air–water interface," Advances in colloid and interface science. vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 237-266, 1998, doi: 10.1016/S0001-8686(98)00066-9.

A.E. Bayat, "Effective parameters in metal oxide nanoparticles transportation through porous media packs for enhanced oil recovery", PhD Thesis, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 2015.

L.J. Catalan, F.A. Dullien, and I. Chatzis, "The effects of wettability and heterogeneities on the recovery of waterflood residual oil with low pressure inert gas injection assisted by gravity drainage," SPE Advanced Technology Series. vol. 2, no. 02, pp. 140-149, 1994, doi: 10.2118/23596-PA.

W.R. Paidin, "Physical model study of the effects of wettability and fractures on gas assisted gravity drainage (GAGD) performance", Master Thesis, Louisiana State University, USA, 2006.

L.L. Schramm and K. Mannhardt, "The effect of wettability on foam sensitivity to crude oil in porous media," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 101-113, 1996, doi: 10.1016/0920-4105(95)00068-2.

A. Roustaei and H. Bagherzadeh, "Experimental investigation of SiO2 nanoparticles on enhanced oil recovery of carbonate reservoirs," Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology. vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 27-33, 2015, doi: 10.1007/s13202-014-0120-3.

Q. Sun, et al., "Utilization of surfactant-stabilized foam for enhanced oil recovery by adding nanoparticles," Energy & Fuels. vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 2384-2394, 2014, doi: 10.1021/ef402453b.

F. Guo and S. Aryana, "An experimental investigation of nanoparticle-stabilized CO2 foam used in enhanced oil recovery," Fuel. vol. 186, pp. 430-442, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2016.08.058.

G. Zhou, et al., "Experimental investigation of coal dust wettability based on surface contact angle," Journal of Chemistry. vol. 2016, 2016, doi: 10.1155/2016/9452303.

T. Kostakis, R. Ettelaie, and B.S. Murray, "Effect of high salt concentrations on the stabilization of bubbles by silica particles," Langmuir. vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 1273-1280, 2006, doi: 10.1021/la052193f.

V.N. Paunov, B.P. Binks, and N.P. Ashby, "Adsorption of charged colloid particles to charged liquid surfaces," Langmuir. vol. 18, no. 18, pp. 6946-6955, 2002, doi: 10.1021/la0203584.

C.O. Metin, et al., "Stability of aqueous silica nanoparticle dispersions," Journal of Nanoparticle Research. vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 839-850, 2011, doi: 10.1007/s11051-010-0085-1.

A. Maestro, et al., "Wettability of silica nanoparticle–surfactant nanocomposite interfacial layers," Soft Matter. vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 837-843, 2012, doi: 10.1039/c1sm06421e.

J. Wang, et al., "Interaction between surfactants and SiO2 nanoparticles in multiphase foam and its plugging ability," Energy & Fuels. vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 408-417, 2017, doi: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b02592.

Q. Sun, et al., "Aqueous foam stabilized by partially hydrophobic nanoparticles in the presence of surfactant," Colloids and Surfaces a-Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. vol. 471, pp. 54-64, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2015.02.007.

M.D. Rad, "Natural gas foam stabilization by a mixture of oppositely charged nanoparticle and surfactant and the underlying mechanisms", Master Thesis, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 2018.

L. Operti, R. Rabezzana, and G.A. Vaglio, "Negative gas‐phase ion chemistry of silane: A quadrupole ion trap study," Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry: An International Journal Devoted to the Rapid Dissemination of Up‐to‐the‐Minute Research in Mass Spectrometry. vol. 20, no. 18, pp. 2696-2700, 2006, doi: 10.1002/rcm.2662.

B. Hou, et al., "Wettability alteration of oil-wet carbonate surface induced by self-dispersing silica nanoparticles: Mechanism and monovalent metal ion's effect," Journal of Molecular Liquids. vol. 294, pp. 111601, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.molliq.2019.111601.

W. Kuang, S. Saraji, and M. Piri, "A systematic experimental investigation on the synergistic effects of aqueous nanofluids on interfacial properties and their implications for enhanced oil recovery," Fuel. vol. 220, pp. 849-870, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.01.102.

N. Yekeen, E. Padmanabhan, and A.K. Idris, "Synergistic effects of nanoparticles and surfactants on n-decane-water interfacial tension and bulk foam stability at high temperature," Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. vol. 179, pp. 814-830, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2019.04.109.

U. Farooq, et al., "Surface characterization of model, outcrop, and reservoir samples in low salinity aqueous solutions," Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology. vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 519-531, 2011, doi: 10.1080/01932691003756936.

A. Kasha, et al., "Effect of Ca2+, Mg2+ and SO42− ions on the zeta potential of calcite and dolomite particles aged with stearic acid," Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. vol. 482, pp. 290-299, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2015.05.043.

E.W. Al-Shalabi, K. Sepehrnoori, and G. Pope. Geochemical interpretation of low salinity water injection in carbonate oil reservoirs. in SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium. 2014. Society of Petroleum Engineers doi: 10.2118/169101-PA.

M.H. Derkani, et al., "Mechanisms of surface charge modification of carbonates in aqueous electrolyte solutions," Colloids and Interfaces. vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 62, 2019, doi: 10.3390/colloids3040062.

C. Dwivedi, et al., "Electrospun nanofibrous scaffold as a potential carrier of antimicrobial therapeutics for diabetic wound healing and tissue regeneration," Nano-and Microscale Drug Delivery Systems, pp. 147-164, 2017, doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-52727-9.00009-1.

X. Wang, S. Yuan, and B. Jiang, "Wetting process and adsorption mechanism of surfactant solutions on coal dust surface," Journal of Chemistry. vol. 2019, 2019, doi: 10.1155/2019/9085310.

L.S. de Lara, V.A. Rigo, and C.R. Miranda, "The stability and interfacial properties of functionalized silica nanoparticles dispersed in brine studied by molecular dynamics," The European Physical Journal B. vol. 88, no. 10, pp. 1-10, 2015, doi: 10.1140/epjb/e2015-60543-1.