Investigation of Nanoparticles Assisted Surfactant Flooding for Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Different Salinity Range

Abstract : Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques are important for increasing oil production as to meet global energy demands. Surfactant flooding is a commonly used EOR method, but it has issues with surfactant molecules adhering on the surface of the reservoir rock more especially at higher salinity range. The study compares the effect of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) surfactant and Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticle hybrid at different salinity concentration ratios, stand-alone Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate surfactant and Aluminum oxide nanoparticle on viscosity, salinity ranges of 30,000ppm and 60,000ppm, permeability change and oil recovery. The efficiency of the formulated fluids was tested through flooding experiment using different twelve core samples of Niger – Delta sand formation. The results showed that the surfactant-nanoparticle hybrid solution enhanced the viscosity of fluids, gave better permeability change and higher oil recovery for both 30,000ppm and 60,000ppm salinity change examined. Concentration ratio of 0.1 wt%Al2O3 and 0.3wt% SDS gave the highest cumulative oil recovery of 82.61% using 30,000 ppm and 78.26% for 60,000ppm brine concentration at the same fluid concentration ratio brine followed by 0.2 wt%Al2O3/0.3wt%SDS concentration ratio. The hybrid with 0.1 wt%Al2O3 and 0.3wt% SDS concentration ratio gave lower permeability change of 52.30md than every other concentration investigated. The combination of Aluminum oxide nanoparticle and Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate surfactant enhances surfactant properties as to improve displacement efficiency, reduce surfactant adsorption and permeability damage.