APPLICATION OF ACRYLAMIDE POLYMER GRAFTED WITH SiO2 NANOPARTICLES 2 IN ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY-DESIGN PROJECT

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

The recovery of oil passes through several stages, which are primary, secondary and tertiary 13 recoveries. At initial conditions, the production of hydrocarbons is carried out from the natural forces 14 of the reservoir. However, after a specific period of time of production, the natural pressures available 15 become insufficient in applying the required reinforcements in pushing the oil into the surface. 16 Accordingly, there are multiple methods that help in pushing the oil into the surface facilities including 17 the polymer injection. This is until the field of nanotechnology stepped foot in the industrial field, 18 especially the petroleum industry. Nanotechnology, in general, helped in making the production 19 process easier by enhancing properties of the fluids and rocks, such as wettability, interfacial tension, 20 and viscosity. The objective of this research project is to have a deeper understanding of how the 21 recovery of oil can be enhanced by using nanotechnology. Moreover, the polymer that is used is the 22 polyacrylamide, and the nanoparticles that are used are the silica nanoparticles. The experimental 23 work has 2 stages, which are the rheology stage and the flooding stage. The rheology stage involves 24 the process of measuring how the viscosity of the acrylamide polymer increases when it is grafted with 25 the silica nanoparticles, which is an advantage since an increase in the viscosity of the polymer means 26 that the sweeping efficiency is going to improve. The viscosity was measured by using the 800 model 27 8-speed viscometer, and 4 concentrations of 250 ppm, 500 ppm, 1000 ppm, and 2000 ppm were 28 used. The core flooding stage was carried out using the core flood system that was constructed in the 29 core analysis lab for the research work and for the future work of future students in the petroleum 30 engineering department. The experimental work indicates that 200 ppm of polyacrylamide and silica 31 nanoparticles is the optimum concentration for the best recovery of oil.

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