Performance of low-salinity water flooding for enhanced oil recovery improved by SiO_2 nanoparticles

Low-salinity water injection has been utilized as a promising method for oil recovery in recent years. Low-salinity water flooding changes the ion composition or brine salinity for improving oil recovery. Recently, the application of nanoparticles with low-salinity water flooding has shown remarkable results in enhanced oil recovery(EOR). Many studies have been performed on the effect of nanofluids on EOR mechanisms. Their results showed that nanofluids can improve oil recovery when used in low-salinity water flooding. In this work, the effects of injection of low-salinity water and low-salinity nanofluid(prepared by adding SiO_2 nanoparticles to low-salinity water) on oil recovery were investigated. At first, the effects of ions were investigated with equal concentrations in low-salinity water flooding. The experimental results showed that the monovalent ions had better performance than the divalent ions because of them having more negative zeta potential and less ionic strength. Also, low-salinity water flooding recovered 6.1% original oil in place(OOIP) more than the high-salinity flooding. Contact angle measurements demonstrated that low-salinity water could reduce the contact angle between oil and water. Then in the second stage, experiments were continued by adding SiO_2 nanoparticles to the K+ solution which had the highest oil recovery at the first stage. The experimental results illustrated that the addition of Si02 nanoparticles up to 0.05 wt% increased oil recovery by about 4% OOIP more than the low-salinity water flooding.

How much would silica nanoparticles enhance the performance of low-salinity water flooding?

Nanofluids and low-salinity water(LSW)flooding are two novel techniques for enhanced oil recovery.Despite some efforts on investigating benefits of each method,the pros and cons of their combined application need to be evaluated.This work sheds light on performance of LSW augmented with nanoparticles through examining wettability alteration and the amount of incremental oil recovery during the displacement process.To this end,nanofluids were prepared by dispersing silica nanoparticles(0.1 wt%,0.25 wt%,0.5 wt% and 0.75 wt%)in 2,10,20 and 100 times diluted samples of Persian Gulf seawater.Contact angle measurements revealed a crucial role of temperature,where no wettability alteration occurred up to 80 ℃.Also,an optimum wettability state(with contact angle 22°)was detected with a 20 times diluted sample of seawater augmented with 0.25 wt% silica nanoparticles.Also,extreme dilution(herein 100 times)will be of no significance.Throughout micromodel flooding,it was found that in an oil-wet condition,a combination of silica nanoparticles dispersed in 20 times diluted brine had the highest displacement efficiency compared to silica nanofluids prepared with deionized water.Finally,by comparing oil recoveries in both water-and oil-wet micromodels,it was concluded that nanoparticles could enhance applicability of LSW via strengthening wettability alteration toward a favorable state and improving the sweep efficiency.

Efficiency of enhanced oil recovery by injection of low-salinity water in barium-containing carbonate reservoirs

When low-salinity water containing sulfate ions is injected into carbonate reservoirs, rock dissolution and in situ precipitation occur, altering rock permeability and wettability. Particularly, when barium ions are present in formation water,they react chemically with SO;, and BaSO;is precipitated. These reactions can cause a serious impact on the efficiency of enhanced oil recovery（EOR）. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to identify EOR efficiency induced by lowsalinity waterflooding（LSWF） when Ba;is present in carbonate reservoirs. From the experimental results, it was confirmed that the permeability calculated by the measured pressure difference was improved because of rock dissolution predominating over in situ precipitation for the case of low Ba;concentrations. In the analysis of wettability alteration through the measurements of relative permeabilities before and after LSWF, the higher Ba;concentration case consumed more SO;in precipitating the BaSO;, resulting in weaker wettability alteration due to the reduction of sulfate activity.These phenomena ultimately influenced EOR efficiency, i.e., the oil recovery was greater for the lower Ba;concentration.

Stochastic and upscaled analytical modeling of fines migration in porous media induced by low-salinity water injection

Fines migration induced by injection of low-salinity water(LSW) into porous media can lead to severe pore plugging and consequent permeability reduction. The deepbed filtration(DBF) theory is used to model the aforementioned phenomenon, which allows us to predict the effluent concentration history and the distribution profile of entrapped particles. However, the previous models fail to consider the movement of the waterflood front. In this study, we derive a stochastic model for fines migration during LSW flooding, in which the Rankine-Hugoniot condition is used to calculate the concentration of detached particles behind and ahead of the moving water front. A downscaling procedure is developed to determine the evolution of pore-size distribution from the exact solution of a large-scale equation system. To validate the proposed model,the obtained exact solutions are used to treat the laboratory data of LSW flooding in artificial soil-packed columns. The tuning results show that the proposed model yields a considerably higher value of the coefficient of determination, compared with the previous models, indicating that the new model can successfully capture the effect of the moving water front on fines migration and precisely match the effluent history of the detached particles.

Effect of various Na/K ratios in low-salinity well water on growth performance and physiological response of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

To investigate the influence of sodium to potassium （Na/IO ratios on the growth performance and physiological response of the Pacific white shrimp （Litopenaeus vananmei）, various concentrations of KC1 were added to low-salinity well water （salinity 4） in an 8-week culture trial. Six treatments with NWK ratios of 60：1, 42：1, 33：1, 23：1, 17：1, and 14：1 were replicated in triplicate. The highest weight-gain rate （3 506±48）% and survival rate （89.38±0.88）% was observed in well water with Na/K ratios of 23：1 and 42：1, respectively, while the feed conversion ratio （1.02～0.01）, oxygen consumption, and ammonia-N excretion rate was the lowest in the medium with a Na/K ratio of 23：1. Gill Na＋-K＋-ATPase activity, as an indicator of osmoregulation, peaked in the treatment where the Na/K ratio was 17：1. The total hemocyte count, respiratory burst, and immune-related enzyme activities （ALP, LSZ, PO, and SOD） ofL. vananmei were affected significantly by Na/K ratios （P〈0.05）. After challenged with Vibrio harveyi, the cumulative mortality of shrimp reared in a Na/K ratio of 23：1 （30±14.14）% was significantly lower than the control （75～7.07）%. In conclusion, the addition of K＋ to low-salinity well water in L. vannamei cultures is feasible. Na/K ratios ranging from 23：1 to 33：1 might improve survival and growth. Immunity and disease resistance are also closely related to the Na/K ratio of the low-salinity well water. The findings may contribute to the development of more efficient K^＋ remediation strategies for L. vananmei culture in low-salinity well water.

Evaluation of the coupled impact of silicon oxide nanoparticles and low-salinity water on the wettability alteration of Berea sandstones

This study investigated experimentally the coupled effects of hydrophilic SiO_(2) nanoparticles(NPs)and low-salinity water(LSW)on the wettability of synthetic clay-free Berea sandstone.Capillary pressure,interfacial tension(IFT),contact angle,Zeta potential,and dynamic displacement measurements were performed at various NP mass fractions and brine salinities.The U.S.Bureau of Mines(USBM)index was used to quantify the wettability alteration.Furthermore,the NP stability and retention and the effect of enhanced oil recovery by nanofluid were examined.The results showed that LSW immiscible displacement with NPs altered the wettability toward more water wet.With the decreasing brine salinity and increasing NP mass fraction,the IFT and contact angle decreased.The wettability alteration intensified most as the brine salinity decreased to 4000 mg/L and the NP mass fraction increased to 0.075%.Under these conditions,the resulting incremental oil recovery factor was approximately 13 percentage points.When the brine salinity was 4000 mg/L and the NP mass fraction was 0.025%,the retention of NPs caused the minimum damage to permeability.

Combined imbibition system with black nanosheet and low-salinity water for improving oil recovery in tight sandstone reservoirs

Nanomaterials and low-salinity water(LSW)are two popular enhanced oil recovery(EOR)methods that have been widely studied in recent years.The former is used for in-depth conformance improvement and the latter for microscopic oil displacement(by altering the potential and contact angle).However,there are few literature on combining them to achieve synergistic effects,especially for tight sandstone res-ervoirs.Based on the reservoir conditions of the Jimusar Oilfield,this study investigated the oil recovery mechanism of the combined imbibition system,which was composed of black nanosheet(BN)and LSW.Its performances including decreasing interfacial tension,emulsification,and wettability alterations were evaluated.The imbibition differences between the single system of BN and LSW and the combined BN-LsW imbibition system were then compared.Results showed that the combined imbibition system had a better emulsification effect on the crude oil and could also alter the wettability of the core surface.Moreover,the combined system could increase both the imbibition rate and the ultimate oil recovery.The nuclear magnetic T2 spectrum also indicated that the addition of black nanosheets could divert more fluid into small pores and thus improve the microscopic sweep efficiency.

Observational characteristics and dynamic mechanism of low-salinity water lens for the offshore detachment of the Changjiang River diluted water in August 2006

The Changjiang River diluted water(CDW)spreads into the East China Sea(ECS)primarily in a plume pattern,although in some years,low-salinity water lenses(LSWLs)detach from the main body of the CDW.In-situ observations indicate that in August 2006,a LSWL detached from the main body of the CDW near the river mouth.In this paper,the effects of winds,tides,baroclinity and upwelling on LSWLs are explored with a threedimensional model.The results show that:(1)winds play a crucial role in these detachment events because windinduced northerly Eulerian residual currents impose an uneven force on the CDW and cut it off,thus forming a LSWL;(2)upwelling carries high-salinity water from the lower layer to the upper layer,truncating the low-salinity water tongue vertically,which is conducive to the detachment and maintenance of LSWLs;and(3)upwelling during the evolution of a LSWL is caused by the combined effects of winds and tides.The influences of windinduced upwelling are mainly near the shore,whereas the upwelling along the 30 m isobath is predominantly affected by tides,with the effect increasing from neap tide to spring tide.

Preliminary discussion of low-salinity hydrothermal fluid mineralization

REVIEWING the history of the geology of mineral deposits, we may find that in the first fifty years of thetwentieth century the magmatic-hydrothermal theory of ore deposition was the most prevalent, whichgave impetus to the development of the geology of mineral deposits. In the 1960s, the drilling of theSalton Sea geothermal field, California, the United States, and discovery and study of the Red Sea seafloor hot brines and large amounts of metal sulfides removed therefrom led to the rise of the brine theory ofmineral deposition, thus elucidating the origin of massive metal sulfides and promoted the discoveryand exploration of metal deposits. After the 1970s and the 1980s, through a study of the hydrothermal ore fluids of modern hotsprings. geologists came to realize that there exist low-salinity hydrothermal ore fluids other than

Enhanced oil recovery by low-salinity water spontaneous imbibition (LSW-SI) in a typical tight sandstone formation of mahu sag from core scale to field scale

Accelerating mass exchange between matrix and fractures is the essence of enhanced oil recovery(EOR)in tight formations after natural depletion.Low salinity water(LSW)injection has been commerciallyproven in conventional reservoirs EOR,with scale projects in progress worldwide.There is,however,a lack of understanding of the EOR effect in tight formations.Therefore,in this work,we introduced LSWEOR to a target tight formation using huff-puff mode.Spontaneous imbibition(SI)tests were firstly performed on homogenous Berea sandstone cores with decreasing salinity brine to observe the production response.The results indicated that the oil recovery of the tight rock was boosted by tuning brine salinity.Of all the used brines with salinity ranging from 0.021%to 2.1%TDS(total dissolved salinity),the 0.21%TDS brine showed a rapid increase in oil production over imbibing time,which finally led to an incremental oil recovery of 4.5%OOIP(original oil in place).Core-scale modeling was conducted by history-matching the oil recovery dynamics of the SI results through modifying capillary pressure and relative permeability.A full-scale reservoir model was constructed using micro-seismic data to model fracture geometry combing fracturing results and scaling parameters obtained from core scale historymatching.It is proven that LSW huff-n-puff stimulated the oil production after natural depletion and improved MEE(mass exchange efficiency)of the target formation,but the EOR benefit was not comparable to CO2 and surfactant-assisted water huff-puff methods.

Polymer efficiency and sulfate concentration for hybrid EOR application to an acidic carbonate reservoir

Polymers play an important role in hybrid enhanced oil recovery (EOR), which involves both a polymer and low-salinity water. Because the polymer commonly used for low-salinity polymer flooding (LSPF) is strongly sensitive to brine pH, its efficiency can deteriorate in carbonate reservoirs containing highly acidic formation water. In this study, polymer efficiency in an acidic carbonate reservoir was investigated experimentally for different salinity levels and SO42− concentrations. Results indicated that lowering salinity improved polymer stability, resulting in less polymer adsorption, greater wettability alteration, and ultimately, higher oil recovery. However, low salinity may not be desirable for LSPF if the injected fluid does not contain a sufficient number of sulfate (SO42−) ions. Analysis of polymer efficiency showed that more oil can be produced with the same polymer concentration by adjusting the SO42− content. Therefore, when river water, which is relatively easily available in onshore fields, is designed to be injected into an acidic carbonate reservoir, the LSPF method proposed in this study can be a reliable and environmentally friendly method with addition of a sufficient number of SO42− ions to river water.

Low salinity water-Surfactant-CO_(2) EOR

Coreflood,interfacial tension(IFT),contact angle,and phase behavior measurements were performed to investigate the viability of a hybrid of low-salinity water,surfactant,and CO_(2) flood enhanced oil recovery(EOR)process.Low-permeability carbonate reservoir cores were aged for eight weeks at reservoir temperature and pressure.Coreflood and contact angle between oil droplets and core surface measurements were performed.Additional contact angle measurements on sandstone and shale cores were also performed.The coreflood sequences were seawater flood,followed by low-salinity water flood,followed by surfactant floods until residual oil saturations to each flooding sequences and finally CO_(2) injection.Coreflood in low-permeability carbonate cores show that the hybrid EOR process produces incremental oil up to twenty-five percent beyond seawater flooding.Contact angle measurements on carbonate,sandstone and shale cores indicate that wettability alteration and IFT decrease are the main oil-mobilizing mechanisms in the hybrid EOR process.The hybrid EOR process mobilizes part of the residual oil because:(i)low-salinity brine improves wettability towards hydrophilic condition favorable for surfactant flooding;(ii)surfactant in lowsalinity water solubilizes some of the remaining oil as Winsor type II
microemulsion and lowers IFT between oil and water;and(iii)CO_(2) will follow surfactant to mobilize more of the remaining oil in the wettability-improved condition.