Application of α-MnO2 nanoparticles for residual oil mobilization through surfactant polymer flooding

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2022-06, Vol.29 (29), p.44255-44270
• Main Authors: Kesarwani, Himanshu, Srivastava, Vartika, Mandal, Ajay, Sharma, Shivanjali, Choubey, Abhay Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Crude oil; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Enhanced oil recovery; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Liquid phases; Manganese; Manganese dioxide; Nanoparticles; Oil; Oil recovery; Polymer flooding; Polymers; Research Article; Surface chemistry; Surface tension; Surfactants; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-19009-0

Injection of surfactant and polymer slug is among the most effective chemical enhanced oil recovery processes. The only problem encountered with the surfactant polymer (SP) flooding is the loss of surface-active agents that reduce the efficiency of surfactants in the chemical slug. Various attempts to modify SP flooding have been made previously so that the surfactant loss due to adsorption could be reduced. Nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the most effective ways of reducing surfactant adsorption as surfactant particles are held in the liquid phase by nanoparticles, resulting in lower surfactant losses due to adsorption. However, the high cost of the NPs limits their use on the field scale. To encounter this problem, the present study focuses on the application of the manganese dioxide NPs, synthesized through a green route that is economically viable. These NPs are found to be cost-effective as compared to commercially available NPs as well as the synthesis of these NPs does not require the use of toxic chemicals. The 1000 ppm NPs effectively reduced the surfactant adsorption by 46%. The surface tension was lowered from 29.4 to 26.1 mN/m when 1000 ppm NPs were applied to 2500 ppm surfactant solution. Also, the nanoparticles were found to increase the viscosity of the chemical slug by increasing the solid particles present in the slug. The sand pack flooding experiments were carried out to assess the crude oil mobilization ability of the NPs assisted SP flooding. The oil recovery was found to increase from 5% of the original oil in place, resulting in ~ 75% of the crude oil recovery, which was only ~ 70% when NPs were not introduced into the system.