Open Access

ARTICLE

Assessment of Nanoparticle-Enriched Solvents for Oil Recovery Enhancement

by Muayad M. Hasan^1,*, Firas K. Al-Zuhairi², Anfal H. Sadeq¹, Rana A. Azeez¹

1 Department of Petroleum Technology, University of Technology-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Technology-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq

* Corresponding Author: Muayad M. Hasan. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Recent advancements in thermal fluid flow applications)

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2023, 19(11), 2827-2835. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2023.027746

Received 13 November 2022; Accepted 20 February 2023; Issue published 18 September 2023

Abstract

Solvents are generally used to reduce the viscosity of heavy crude oil and ultimately enhance oil recovery. Recently, a new method has been introduced where nanoparticles (NPs) are exploited to induce enhanced oil recovery owing to their ability to improve the mobility ratio, dampen the interfacial tension, and alter rock wettability. This study investigated the integration of nano-alumina (Al₂O₃) NPs with an n-hexane solvent. In particular, a Brookfield viscometer has been used to measure the crude oil viscosity and it has been found that NPs can effectively lead to a significant decrease in the overall oil viscosity (70 cp using the solvent only, 45 cp when NPs are added).

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Keywords

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