Enhanced oil recovery by polymer-coated nanoparticles
Use of nanotechnology to the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from
underground reservoirs
The project
The overall objective of the proposed work is to optimize the properties of polymer-coated nanoparticles (PNPs) toward the mobilization of residual oil from reservoir rocks. PNP-based aqueous suspensions, emulsions, and foams will be prepared, and tested as chemical flooding agents in porous media models (glass etched pore networks & sandpacks), and core plugs of reservoir rocks. Based on EOR studies, the synthesis and properties of PNPs will be tuned successively by a scheme of “adaptive control” (feedback) to select the most efficient and cost-effective PNP (“smart”) fluids. A numerical simulator of the multiphase flow and transport of “smart fluids” in digital porous media reconstructed from 3D CT-scan micro-tomographic images of reservoir rocks will be developed / calibrated / validated.
Technical Objectives
The specific technical objectives are described in detail below