Experimental Investigation of Magnetorheological Behavior of Fe3O4@PVP@OA Ferrofluid for Potential Application in Gas Condensate Blockage Reduction

The aim of this work was to investigate the application of ferrofluids as a new idea for possibly reducing gas condensate blockage in gas reservoirs. This method was mainly focused on the fabrication of oil-based ferrofluids to control the fluid flow in a porous media to push the fluid out of the media under a magnetic field which can be effective for the reduction of condensate banking in reservoirs. To achieve this goal, magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were modified by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and oleic acid (OA) and characterized with various analyses. Then, ferrofluids were prepared in kerosene as a base fluid to evaluate the effect of the magnetic field on the flow behavior of the ferrofluids and permeability by a glass micromodel. The characterization of the prepared magnetic nanoparticles proved that the modification of the surface was successfully completed: the magnetic nanoparticles were less than 100 nm in size with an appropriate saturation magnetization (M-S) value. The M-S values of the magnetic Fe3O4 nanopartides coated with PVP and OA were 41 and 40 emu.g(-1), respectively, while it was 54 emu.g(-1) for the uncoated magnetic nanoparticles. Magnetorheological tests showed the fluids induce a yield stress when measured at a low strain rate but behave as a shear thinning liquid at strain rates more than 10 s(-1). Glass micromodel tests also depicted that the permeability was increased by applying the magnetic field which highlighted the potential of the oil-based ferrofluids to reduce condensate blockage in gas reservoirs.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to investigate the application of ferrofluids in reducing gas condensate blockage in gas reservoirs. Oil-based ferrofluids were prepared and controlled under a magnetic field, showing potential in reducing condensate blockage in gas reservoirs.