Hydrophobic Silica with Potential for Water-Injection Augmentation of a Low-Permeability Reservoir: Drag Reduction and Self-Cleaning Ability in Relation to Interfacial Interactions

An aqueous nanofluid containing superhydrophobic silica nanoparticles with a high surface activity and an average size of 7 nm was used to enhance the water injection of a low-permeability well. The mechanism for the aqueous nanofluid to enhance water injection was discussed. Findings indicate that the silica aqueous nanofluid can greatly increase the effective water permeability even after injecting water for 2100 pore volumes. This is because the hydrophobic silica nanoparticles can be well adsorbed onto the surface of the porous channels to cause hydrophilic to hydrophobic transformation. Both the hydrophobic capillary force and adhesion work contribute to increasing water injection; and in particular, there is a critical point in the pressure-permeability curves for the rock cores with different wettabilities. Only above the critical point, the hydrophobic rock core exhibits a higher effective water permeability than that of the hydrophilic one, which is imperative for drag reduction. Moreover, the hydrophobic rock core surface has a remarkable self-cleaning ability and can reduce the expansion ratio of clay and inhibit the formation of scale in association with the increase of effective porosity via decreasing the hydration film amount. This approach, highlighting the important role of wettability alteration in increasing water injection, could potentially promote the application of a silica aqueous nanofluid in enhanced oil recovery.