Petroleum Science and Technology

ISSN: 1091-6466 (Print) 1532-2459 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lpet20

Experimental Study of the Nanoparticles Effect on

Surfactant Absorption and Oil Recovery in One of
the Iranian Oil Reservoirs

Kh. Rahimi & M. Adibifard

To cite this article: Kh. Rahimi & M. Adibifard (2015) Experimental Study of the Nanoparticles
Effect on Surfactant Absorption and Oil Recovery in One of the Iranian Oil Reservoirs, Petroleum
Science and Technology, 33:1, 79-85, DOI: 10.1080/10916466.2014.950382

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10916466.2014.950382

Published online: 12 Dec 2014.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 207

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Citing articles: 13 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=lpet20
Petroleum Science and Technology, 33:79–85, 2015
Copyright 
C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1091-6466 print / 1532-2459 online
DOI: 10.1080/10916466.2014.950382

Experimental Study of the Nanoparticles Effect on Surfactant

Absorption and Oil Recovery in One of the Iranian Oil
Reservoirs
Kh. Rahimi1 and M. Adibifard2
1
Petroleum Department, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University in Iran
2
Sahand Oil and Gas Research Institute (SOGRI), Sahand University of Technology, Sahand New
City, Tabriz, Iran

As energy demand increases in the world and oil cost rises in turn, tertiary recovery methods become
more important than before. One of the main challenges in surfactant flooding process, used as a chemical
based method, is the surfactant adsorption phenomenon. Sodium dodecyl sulfate is used in this study as
the surfactant agent and is mingled by water wet nanoparticles (AEROSIL 200) in order to investigate
effects of nanoparticles on amount of surfactant adsorption as well as increase in oil recovery from a
sandstone core belonging to one Iranian reservoir. Results show that inclusion of nanoparticles decreases
the surfactant adsorption and thereby increasing the oil recovery in sandstone cores.
Keywords: enhanced oil recovery, surfactant adsorption, sodium dodecyl sulfate, AEROSIL 200, sand-
stone reservoirs

1. INTRODUCTION

Most of the oil remains in and is trapped into pore structures of the reservoir even after primary and
secondary production scenarios; requiring a tertiary type of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods
to be recovered (Rosen et al., 2005). Increasing capillary number between injecting and displaced
fluids is one of the several options used in chemical based recovery methods to mobilize the trapped
oil. Surfactant flooding is used mostly to increase the capillary number through decreasing interfacial
tension between injecting and reservoir fluid, thereby increasing the amount of oil recovered (Min
Ko et al., 2014). However, one of the main hurdles is surfactants adsorption on the rock surface,
which makes surfactant flooding process inefficient (Somasundaran and Zhang, 2006).
Although effectiveness of nanoparticles in chemical methods has been surveyed by some authors
(Ma et al., 2008; Ahmadi and Shadizadeh, 2013; Zargartalebi et al., 2014; Esmaeilzadeh et al., 2014),
it is still an open area of research for authors to be contributed. Ma et al. (2008) studied interfacial
tension properties of various surfactant solutions in presence of negatively charged hydrophilic
silica nanoparticles and realized that inclusion of nanoparticles improves effectiveness of sodium
dodecyl sulfate (SDS) molecules while having no influence on the efficiency of nonionic surfactants.
Ahmadi and Shadizadeh (2013) conducted depletion solution experiment to designate adsorption

Address correspondence to M. Adibifard, Chemical Engineering Faculty, Petroleum Department, Sahand University of
Technology, Sahand New City, Tabriz, Iran. E-mail: me.adibifard@gmail.com
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/lpet.

79
80 KH. RAHIMI AND M. ADIBIFARD

TABLE 1
Comparison of the Surfactant and Nanoparticles Used in This Study With Previous Conducted Experimental
Studies

Author(s) Surfactant Nanoparticles

Qiu (2010) Octyphenol ethoxylate TS-530

Suleimanov et al. (2011)
Ahmadi and Shadizadeh (2012)
Ahmadi and Shadizadeh (2013)
Esmaeilzadeh et al. (2014)
Zargartalebi et al. (2014)
Present study
Sodium 4-alkyl-2ylbenzene-sulfonate
Zyziphus spina-christi
Zyziphus spina-christi
SDS, C12 TAB, LA7
SDS
SDS
Nonferrous metal nanoparticles
AEROSIL 200, AEROSIL R816
AEROSILR816, AEROSIL 200
ZrO2
AEROSIL 300, AEROSIL R816
AEROSIL 200

density of the Zyziphus spina-christi, as a natural surfactant, in the presence of the hydrophilic and
hydrophobic nano silica on shale sandstone rock surface. Their results indicated that hydrophobic
nano silica is more effective than hydrophobic nano silica to decrease the adsorption of the mentioned
natural surfactant in shale sandstone rocks (Ahmadi and Shadizadeh, 2013). Similar studies have
been conducted by different authors regarding the changes in surface-active agent properties due
to nanoparticles inclusion. Table 1 represents the previous experimental works implemented in this
issue with indication of type of surfactant and nanoparticles employed in the corresponding studies.
The materials used in this study are also compared in the Table 1 with previously used surfactants and
nanoparticles. As is seen obviously from the Table 1, this study is distinguished from the previous
studies in both type of the surfactant (SDS) and nanoparticles (AEROSIL 200) used. Moreover,
effect of nanoparticles on the volume of oil recovered from the sandstone core plug after surfactant
flooding is investigated in this study.

2. EXPERIMENTAL

Materials and system used to measure the adsorption properties of the SDS surfactant is described in
this section along with procedure applied to perceive the effects of AEROSIL 200 on the recovered
oil.

2.1 Materials

Solution phase, type of surfactant agent, and nanoparticles used are all described in the following
sections.

2.1.1 Solution phase

Fresh water produced at the laboratory was used to make surfactant solution and suspension of
the silica nanoparticles.

2.1.2 Surfactant solution

Used surfactant in this study as SDS surfactant supplied by the Merck Group Company, with
99% purity.
 NANOPARTICLES EFFECT ON SURFACTANT ABSORPTION AND OIL RECOVERY 81

TABLE 2
Oil Composition Used in Core Flooding Experiments

Component mol%

H2 S 0.01
O2 0
N2 0
C1 0
C2 0.43
C3 0.89
i-C4 0.9
n-C4 1.34
i-C5 1.21
n-C5 4.77
C6+ 90.45
MW C6+ = 199
S.G C6+ = 0.8181

2.1.3 Nanoparticles

The water wet nano silica, AEROSIL 200, supplied by the Merck Group Company, was used
as nanoparticles and added in different concentrations to the SDS surfactant solution. It should be
pointed out that average particle size of the nanoparticles in this study was 12 nm.

2.1.4 Oil composition

The oil phase composition used in core flooding experiments is given in Table 2.

2.2 System Description

The conductivity meter system was used in this study to calculate the amount of absorbed surfactant
on the sandstone rock surface. The core flooding system arranged for oil recovery experiments is
designed for high pressure and temperature (HPHT) operating conditions.

2.3 Surfactant Adsorption Experiments

To make a 2500 ppm concentration of the surfactant solution, 2.5 g SDS is added per 1 L of the fresh
water. This procedure is followed by adding different values of AEROSIL 200 to produce surfactant
solution with different concentrations of nanoparticles. For example, 1.0 g of AEROSIL 200 is added
to the 2500 ppm surfactant solution and yields 1000 ppm concentration of the nanoparticles in the
surfactant solution.
The following equation is used to calculate the amount of adsorbed surfactant based on initial
and final concentrations of the surfactant solution (Ahmadi and Shadizadeh, 2012).
MS
A = (Ci − C) , (1)
MC × 1000
82 KH. RAHIMI AND M. ADIBIFARD

FIGURE 1 Solution conductivity factor against SDS surfactant concentration (without nanoparticles inclusion).

Where A is the surfactant adsorption density on the rock surface (mg/g rock); Ci and C are initial
and equilibrium attained surfactant concentrations, respectively (ppm); Ms is the mass of surfactant
solution (g); and Mc is the mass of the crushed rock sample.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Adsorption of the SDS Surfactant Solution

Adsorption of the SDS surfactant is investigated with respect to eight different surfactant concen-
trations including: 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, and 5000 ppm. Weight ratio of the
crushed sample to the surfactant solution is considered as 1:3. Different values of nanoparticles are
added to each surfactant concentration in order to make surfactant solutions with 0, 500, 1000, and
2000 ppm concentrations of nano silica.
Conductivity coefficients of the various surfactant solutions are estimated using conductivity
meter system for 0 ppm nano silica concentration and results are plotted in Figure 1 against concen-
trations of SDS surfactant solution. Figure 1 shows critical micelle concentration (CMC) for SDS
surfactant solution is 2455.
After being in contact with rock sample for 24 h, surfactant solution is removed and its conductivity
coefficient is calculated again. The surfactant’s adsorption density is then calculated based on
different conductivity coefficients before and after the rock contact.
Figure 2 represents surfactant adsorption plot for different SDS and AEROSIL 200 concentrations.
It is observed that surfactant adsorption on the sandstone rock surface would be increased by
increasing surfactant solution concentration up to 2500 ppm concentration (close to the CMC) and
then remains approximately constant. This is due to coagulation of the surfactant molecules and
creation of the micelles. The same adsorption data are plotted against AEROSIL 200 concentration
in Figure 3 to better perceive the effect of nanoparticles on surfactant adsorption. As Figure 3
represents by increasing nanoparticles concentration, in a constant SDS concentration, adsorption
of the surfactant is decreased exponentially.
 NANOPARTICLES EFFECT ON SURFACTANT ABSORPTION AND OIL RECOVERY 83

FIGURE 2 Surfactant adsorption versus SDS concentration for different concentrations of AEROSIL 200.

3.2 Effect of Nanoparticles on Oil Recovery

Series of core flooding have been performed to investigate the effect of nanoparticles on amount
of oil recovered. Two sandstone cores belonging to an Iranian reservoir are used to conduct the
experiments.
After washing and drying the core was saturated by the fresh water in order to measure its
porosity and permeability. Then water saturation in the core was reduced by injecting the dead oil.
Flow rate of the dead oil was increased slightly until 1.2 PV (pore volume) and injected into the core

FIGURE 3 Surfactant adsorption against AEROSIL 200 concentration for different SDS concentrations.
84 KH. RAHIMI AND M. ADIBIFARD

TABLE 3
Sandstone Core Properties

Sandstone Cores Length, cm Diameter, cm PV, cc Porosity,% Permeability, md

1 and 2 13.8 3.8 23.15 15.34 150

when connate water saturation is reached at 0.24. This step was repeated also for sandstone core 2.
Properties of the sandstone cores are represented in Table 3.
After reaching connate water saturation each core was flooded with different surfactant solutions
(with and without nanoparticles) and corresponding oil recovery was monitored during the injection
process. Oil recovery factor data are plotted against injected PV in Figure 4 for both pure surfactant
and nanoparticles included surfactant solution. As it is apparent from Figure 4, nanoparticles have
increased ultimate oil recovery after approximately injecting 1.47 PV of the surfactant solution.
While ultimate oil recovery is about 0.82 for 2500 ppm surfactant solution, it reaches to 0.93 for the
same surfactant solution blended with 1000 ppm concentration of AEROSIL 200 (i.e., 11% increase
in recovery) has been achieved by inclusion of nanoparticles into surfactant solution.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Effects of nanoparticles on surfactant adsorption and oil recovery were investigated in this study by
using different concentrations of SDS surfactant solution and water wet nanoparticles (AEROSIL
200) in a sandstone core plug belonging to an Iranian oil reservoir and the following conclusions
were drawn:
1. It was observed that surfactant adsorption increases by increasing the concentration of the
surfactant solution up to CMC and then becomes approximately constant. After CMC more

FIGURE 4 Oil recovery factor vs. injected PV for 2500 ppm SDS surfactant solution with and without inclusion
of AEROSIL 200 (1000 PPM).
 NANOPARTICLES EFFECT ON SURFACTANT ABSORPTION AND OIL RECOVERY 85

surfactant added to the mixture are contributed into micelle creation instead reducing the
interfacial tension or adsorption on the rock surface.
2. Adding nanoparticles to a specific concentration of the surfactant solution decreases the sur-
factant adsorption exponentially. At the surfactant concentrations above the CMC, however,
adding more nanoparticles does not improve surfactant adsorption’s behavior due to micelles
creation.
3. Ultimate oil recovery is increased by injecting surfactant solution enriched by AEROSIL 200
through a sandstone core. The amount of additional oil recovery for a surfactant solution with
2500 ppm SDS concentration and 1000 ppm AEROSIL 200 concentration was 11%. This
11% additional recovered oil can lead to significant increase in oil production if reservoir
volume is taken into calculation. Increased oil recovery may be attributed to the contribution
of the surfactant molecules, which was supposed previously to be adsorbed on the rock
surface, in the interfacial tension reduction process and prevention of the changing rock
wettability from water wet to oil wet.

REFERENCES

Ahmadi, M. A., and Shadizadeh, S. R. (2012). Adsorption of novel nonionic surfactant and particles mixture in carbonates:
enhanced oil recovery implication. Energy Fuels 26:4655–4663.
Ahmadi, M. A., and Shadizadeh, S. R. (2013). Induced effect of adding nano silica on adsorption of a natural surfactant onto
sandstone rock: experimental and theoretical study. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 12:239–247.
Esmaeilzadeh, P., Hosseinpour, N., Bahramian, A., Fakhroueian, Z., and Arya, Sh. (2014). Effect of ZrO2 nanoparticles on the
interfacial behavior of surfactant solutions at air–water and n-heptane–water interfaces. Fluid Phase Equilib. 361:289–295.
Ma, H., Luo, M., and Dai, L. (2008). Influences of surfactant and nanoparticle assembly on effective interfacial tensions.
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 10:2207–2213.
Min Ko, K., et al. (2014). Surfactant flooding characteristics of dodecyl alkyl sulfate for enhanced oil recovery. J. Ind. Eng.
Chem. 20:228–233.
Qiu, F. (2010). The potential applications in heavy oil EOR with the nanoparticle and surfactant stabilized solvent-based emul-
sion. Canadian Unconventional Resources and International Petroleum Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, October
19–21.
Rosen, M. J., et al. (2005). Ultralow interfacial tension for enhanced oil recovery at Very low surfactant concentrations.
Langmuir 21:3749–3756.
Somasundaran, P., and Zhang, L. (2006). Adsorption of surfactants on minerals for wettability control in improved oil
recovery processes. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 52:198–212.
Suleimanov, B. A., Ismailov, F. S., and Veliyev, E. F. (2011). Nanofluid for enhanced oil recovery. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 78:431–437.
Zargartalebi, M., Barati, N., and Kharrat, R. (2014). Influences of hydrophilic and hydrophobic silica nanoparticles on anionic
surfactant properties: Interfacial and adsorption behaviors. J. Pet. Sci. Eng. 119:36–43.