A transient model integrating the nanoconfinement effect and pore structure characteristics of oil transport through nanopores

Understanding the integrated transport behavior of oil in shale nanopores is critical to efficient shale oil development. In this paper, based on the time-dependent Poiseuille flow momentum equation, we present a novel transient model to describe oil transport in unsteady and steady states. The model incorporates the effect of the critical shift density, apparent viscosity, slip length, and alkane property, as well as pore tortuosity and surface roughness. We evaluated our model through a comparison with other models, experiments, and molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the development rates of the volume flows of C_(6)–C_(12) alkane confined in inorganic nanopores and C_(12) alkane confined in organic nanopores were faster than that of the corresponding bulk alkane. In addition, the critical drift density positively promoted the volume flow development rate in the unsteady state and negatively inhibited the mass flow rate in the steady state. This effect was clearest in pores with a smaller radius and lower-energy wall and in alkane with shorter chain lengths. Furthermore, both the nanoconfinement effect and pore structure determined whether the volume flow enhancement rate was greater than or less than 1. The rate increased or decreased with time and was controlled mainly by the nanoconfinement effect. Moreover, as the wall energy increased, the flow inhibition effect increased;as the carbon number of alkane increased, the flow promotion effect increased. The results indicate that the proposed model can accurately describe oil transport in shale nanopores.

Impacts of inorganic salts ions on the polar components desorption efficiency from tight sandstone:A molecular dynamics simulation and QCM-D study

Ions in brine significantly affect EOR.However,the mechanism of EOR with different brine is still controversial.By Combining Molecular Dynamics(MD)method and Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation(QCM-D)technology to analyze ions distribution and the mechanisms in detaching acidic components on the sandstone,an effective method to determine the detaching capacity was established.The results show that detaching capacity is related to ions distribution and hydration capacity.In the oil/brine/rock system,ions far from the rock are favorable for detaching,while ions near the rock are unfavorable for detaching due to ion bridging effect.The hydrogen bond between water and naphthenic acid is key to detaching.Cations strengthen the detaching by forming hydrated ions with water,and the detaching capacity is negatively correlated with hydrated ions radius and positively correlated with the water coordination number.The detaching determination coefficient was established by considering the ions distribution,ions types,and hydration strength,then verified by QCM-D.The brine detaching capacity with different Ca^(2+)/Mg^(2+)ratios was predicted based on MD and detaching determination coefficient,and verified by QCM-D.The optimal Ca^(2+)/Mg^(2+)ratio gave 7:3.This study provides theoretical guidance for targeted regulation of brine composition to improve the recovery of tight sandstone reservoir.