Page 203 - Formation Damage during Improved Oil Recovery Fundamentals and Applications

CHAPTER FOUR

Using Nanofluids to Control Fines
Migration in Porous Systems

Bin Yuan 1,2 and Rouzbeh G. Moghanloo 1
1
The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
2
Coven Energy Technology Research Institute, Qingdao, Shandong, China

Contents
4.1 Introduction 177
4.2 Laboratory Proof and Field Cases 179
4.3 Nanoparticles Transport in Porous Media: Adsorption, Straining,
and Detachment Behaviors 180
4.4 Effectiveness of Nanoparticles Utilization to Mitigate Fines Migration
in Water Flow 182
4.4.1 Approach I: Coinjection of nanoparticles and fines into porous media 184
4.4.2 Approach II: Precoat porous media with nanofluids prior
to fines invasion 187
4.5 Using Nanoparticles to Control Fines Suspension in Oil and
Water-Saturated Porous Systems 192
4.5.1 Nanofluid coinjection to reduce fines migration in two mobile fluids 192
4.5.2 Nanofluid preflush to control fines migration in a radial flow system
saturated with two immiscible fluids 195
4.6 Combined Nanofluids with Low-Salinity Waterflooding 203
4.7 Conclusions 206
Nomenclature 207
References 208
Appendix A: Method of Characteristics to Solve System
of Quasilinear First-order Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) 212

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Nanofluid that contains nanoparticles can exhibit unique electrical,
magnetic, and chemical properties. Recently, nanofluids are widely
reported in diverse applications associated with the oil and gas industry
(Achinta and Belhaj, 2016), including oilfield exploration, reservoir charac-
terization, drilling and completion, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR), etc.

Formation Damage during Improved Oil Recovery. © 2018 Elsevier Inc.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813782-6.00004-X All rights reserved. 177