Foam stability using silica coated nanoparticle for enhanced oil recovery

A mixture of nanoparticles and water can be used in the nano-water alternating gas approach (NWAG) to enhance oil recovery from an oil field. Now, the wettability of rock, relative permeability curves, and the interfacial tension has been analyzed with a view to improving the process. Nanoparticles have grown in importance over the last decade with significant consumer and industrial applications. Yet, the behavior of nanoparticles in the environment is virtually unknown. Additionally, one of the pioneering applications of foam is in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). However, a major stumbling-block to the success of foam application in EOR is the adverse influence of oil on foam stability. The objectives of the present work were to evaluate the effects of various surfactant and nanoparticle concentration as well as hydrocarbons with well-defined properties on foam stability. To do so, a comprehensive series of experiments at static state is conducted to investigate the foam stability of five different concentrations for surfactant and nanoparticle respectively in the absence and presence of white mineral oil and synthetic brine suspension. The results suggested that there is a significant impact of the concentration of the surfactant and nanoparticle on foam stability. Besides, our results also suggested that less stable foam is illustrated in the presence of oil as compare to brine solution. The constraint of the procedure used in the present study to quantify foam stability includes measuring the decay of foam height over a certain period of time, which is a commonly used method in literature relating to half-life method, is discussed here.