A Multi-Parameter Correction Model for Predicting IFT and MMP of CO2–Oil Systems
Abstract Gas-liquid interfacial behavior in nanoconfined CO2-hydrocarbon systems controls interfacial tension (IFT), minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), and miscibility development in nanoporous media. Most confinement-correction models focus on critical temperature and critical pressure, while changes in the acentric factor, critical volume, binary interaction coefficient, and parachor are less consistently treated. Here, we developed a multi-parameter thermodynamic correction framework that combines a cubic equation of state, flash calculations, and parachor-based IFT prediction. The model reproduced literature and experimental benchmarks with relative deviations of 1.44% for bulk CO2–C6 MMP, less than 3% for confined CO2–C6 MMP, and 3.49% for a CO2-mixed hydrocarbon system. Additional comparisons with experimental MMP/IFT data and SAFT-based calculations showed consistent pressure and pore-size trends. The full-parameter correction gave lower IFT and MMP than correction of only critical temperature and critical pressure. For CO2–C8 at 80 °C in a 5 nm pore, the IFT at 6 MPa decreased from 2.52 to 0.613 mN/m, and the MMP decreased from 12.75 to 11.48 MPa after all parameter shifts were included. The correction effect became stronger in smaller pores, at higher temperatures, and for longer-chain hydrocarbons. Mechanistic analysis showed that pressure and stronger confinement promote gas–liquid compositional homogenization, whereas temperature regulates miscibility non-monotonically. The workflow is most suitable for comparing pore-size, temperature, pressure, and composition effects in CO2-alkane and simplified mixed-hydrocarbon systems. Extension to complex crude oils requires reliable compositional and thermodynamic inputs.
Authors
- Bei Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5758-2046)
- Weibing Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7547-4644)
- Quanling Qin
- Erpeng Guo
- Liu Yongge
- Jian Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4121-8538)
- Qingjun Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3476-0641)
- Kang Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2690-8127)
- Zhixin Gao
- Mengfan Zhang
Institutions
- Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (CN)
- China University of Petroleum, East China (CN)
- Shandong University of Science and Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Langmuir
- Published
- 2026-09-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6c03683
- Primary Topic
- Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00