The flow of homogeneous fluids through porous media: analogies with other physical problems

For several centuries fluid dynamics studies have relied upon the assumption that when a liquid flows over a solid surface, the liquid molecules adjacent to the solid are stationary relative to the solid. This no-slip boundary condition (BC) has been applied successfully to model many macroscopic experiments, but has no microscopic justification. In recent years there has been an increased interest in determining the appropriate BCs for the flow of Newtonian liquids in confined geometries, partly due to exciting developments in the fields of microfluidic and microelectromechanical devices and partly because new and more sophisticated measurement techniques are now available. An increasing number of research groups now dedicate great attention to the study of the flow of liquids at solid interfaces, and as a result a large number of experimental, computational and theoretical studies have appeared in the literature. We provide here a review of experimental studies regarding the phenomenon of slip of Newtonian liquids at solid interfaces. We dedicate particular attention to the effects that factors such as surface roughness, wettability and the presence of gaseous layers might have on the measured interfacial slip. We also discuss how future studies might improve our understanding of hydrodynamic BCs and enable us to actively control liquid slip.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/68/12/R05/pdf

Boundary slip in Newtonian liquids: a review of experimental studies

Surfactant flooding is an important technique used in enhanced oil recovery to reduce the amount of oil in pore space of matrix rock. Surfactants are injected to mobilize residual oil by lowering the interfacial tension between oil and water and/or by the wettability alteration from oil-wet to water-wet. A large number of cationic, anionic, non-ionic, and amphoteric surfactants have been investigated on a laboratory scale under different conditions of temperature and salinity. Selection of the appropriate surfactant is a challenging task, and surfactants have to be evaluated by a series of screening techniques. Different types of surfactants along with their limitations are reviewed with particular emphasis on the phase behavior, adsorption, interfacial tension, and structure–property relationship. Factors affecting the phase behavior, interfacial tension, and wettability alteration are also discussed. Field applications of surfactants for chemical enhanced oil recovery in carbonate and sandstone reservoi...

Review on Surfactant Flooding: Phase Behavior, Retention, IFT, and Field Applications

The injected fluids in secondary processes supplement the natural energy present in the reservoir to displace oil. The recovery efficiency mainly depends on the mechanism of pressure maintenance. However, the injected fluids in tertiary or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes interact with the reservoir rock/oil system. Thus, EOR techniques are receiving substantial attention worldwide as the available oil resources are declining. However, some challenges, such as low sweep efficiency, high costs and potential formation damage, still hinder the further application of these EOR technologies. Current studies on nanoparticles are seen as potential solutions to most of the challenges associated with these traditional EOR techniques. This paper provides an overview of the latest studies about the use of nanoparticles to enhance oil recovery and paves the way for researchers who are interested in the integration of these progresses. The first part of this paper addresses studies about the major EOR mechanisms of nanoparticles used in the forms of nanofluids, nanoemulsions and nanocatalysts, including disjoining pressure, viscosity increase of injection fluids, preventing asphaltene precipitation, wettability alteration and interfacial tension reduction. This part is followed by a review of the most important research regarding various novel nano-assisted EOR methods where nanoparticles are used to target various existing thermal, chemical and gas methods. Finally, this review identifies the challenges and opportunities for future study regarding application of nanoparticles in EOR processes.

/pdf/application-of-nanoparticles-in-enhanced-oil-recovery-a-3phymk4cb9.pdf

Application of Nanoparticles in Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Critical Review of Recent Progress

This paper presents the results of imbibition tests using a reservoir crude oil and a reservoir brine solution with a high salinity and a suitable nanofluid that displaces crude oil from Berea sandstone (water-wet) and single-glass capillaries. The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) nanofluid is specially formulated to survive in a high-salinity environment and is found to result in an efficiency of 50% for Berea sandstone, compared to 17% using the brine alone at a reservoir temperature of 55 °C. We also present a direct visual evidence of the underlying mechanism based on the structural disjoining pressure for the crude oil displacement using IIT nanofluid from the solid substrate in high-salinity brine. These results aid our understanding of the role of the nanofluid in displacing crude oil from the rock, especially in a high-salinity environment containing Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions. Results are also reported using Berea sandstone and a nanofluid containing silica nanoparticles.

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Using Nanoparticle Dispersions: Underlying Mechanism and Imbibition Experiments

Nanofluid for enhanced oil recovery

Thermophysical properties of nano- and microfluids with [Ni5(μ5-pppmda)4Cl2] metal string complex particles

The thermal conductivity of water and glycerol is investigated via the transient hot wire method by adding small amounts of copper nanoparticles to solutions. At a 0.2% copper nanoparticle concentration, the thermal conductivity coefficient rises to 25% for the Cu + glycerol system, and to 35% for Cu + water system. A mechanism and mathematical model for describing the nanoparticle aggregation effect on the thermal properties of nanofluids are proposed, based on an analysis of the accumulated experimental data. It is shown that the enhancement of nanofluid thermal conductivity at low nanoparticle concentrations is directly proportional to their volume fraction and thermal conductivity coefficient, and (in accordance with the literature data) is inversely proportional to the radius and the aggregation ratio. The proposed model describes the existing experimental data quite well. The results from this work can be applied to the rapid cooling of electronic components, in the power engineering for ensuring the rapid and effective transfer of thermal energy in a nuclear reactor, and in the oil industry for thermal stimulation.

Effect of copper nanoparticle aggregation on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids

Primer on Enhanced Oil Recovery

The choice of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods for specific reservoir conditions is one of the most difficult tasks for a reservoir engineer. Taber (Taber, 1980; Taber et al., 1997a,b) gave informative overview of EOR research history. He also offered technical screening guides for EOR nowadays known as Taber's tables. It should be noted that the approach recommended by Taber could not be taken as strong mathematical ranking of EOR methods. The authors propose an approach for EOR methods selection, based on fuzzy logic, possibility theory, and Bayesian inference mechanisms. Rankings were made by way of best EOR method selection for every criteria using fuzzy intervals comparison. Final correction of each EOR selection coefficient was performed by the generalized Bayesian inference mechanism. Application of this methodology for reservoir conditions of Alberta oil field, as well as the offshore field “Guneshli,” allowed for choosing the most effective EOR method, confirming the accuracy and feasi...

Baghir A. Suleimanov

Papers

Nanofluid for enhanced oil recovery

Thermophysical properties of nano- and microfluids with [Ni5(μ5-pppmda)4Cl2] metal string complex particles

Effect of copper nanoparticle aggregation on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids

Primer on Enhanced Oil Recovery

Selection methodology for screening evaluation of EOR methods