Characterizing the Role of Clay and Silica Nanoparticles in Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery During Polymer Flooding

Polymer flooding as one of the most effective methods for enhancing oil recovery has a significant effect on tertiary production of reservoirs with poor vertical sweep efficiencies and those which are extremely heterogeneous. Water-soluble polymers are used to both increase the viscosity of water and decrease the mobility ratio of the displaced and displacing fluids. However, due to high amount of polymer adsorption, presence of divalent cations and mechanical degradation, polymer molecules may lose their properties. Hence it is necessary to further improve the displacement effectiveness of polymer flooding. Despite the fact that several ways have been suggested to enhance the performance of polymer flooding, application of nanoparticles in the improvement of rheological properties of the polymer solution used in enhanced oil recovery has not been reported previously and is still an ongoing subject. This paper investigates the effects of nanoparticles on flow behavior of polymer solution in porous media by employing both experimental studies and numerical simulations. The simulation model first is validated against well-controlled laboratory experiment to have reliable predictions of the full-field implementations. The results show that the amount of polymer adsorption and viscosity of polymer solution will improve when the clay or silica nanoparticles is present in the injectant, and accordingly, the cumulative oil recovery and breakthrough time will be bettered. The result of sensitivity analysis demonstrates that polymer molecules are more degradable during polymer flooding compared to nanoparticles-assisted polymer flooding. Based on the validated model, 3D simulations of nanoparticles-assisted polymer field pilot were performed and the results revealed that the cumulative oil recovery, water cut and breakthrough time will improve when the injectant has some dispersed nanoparticles.