De-emulsification and gravity separation of micro-emulsion produced with enhanced oil recovery chemicals flooding
The present study investigates the effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on the stability of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)-produced stable emulsion. The chemical precipitation method is used to synthesize TiO2 nanoparticles, and their properties were determined using various analytical characterization techniq...
| Main Authors: | Khan, M.K.A., Khan, J.A., Ullah, H., Al-Kayiem, H.H., Irawan, S., Irfan, M., Glowacz, A., Liu, H., Glowacz, W., Rahman, S. |
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| Format: | Article |
| Institution: | Universiti Teknologi Petronas |
| Record Id / ISBN-0: | utp-eprints.23920 / |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Online Access: |
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85106430967&doi=10.3390%2fen14082249&partnerID=40&md5=4103f7583697970627b7b3bd6686ae59 http://eprints.utp.edu.my/23920/ |
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| Summary: |
The present study investigates the effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on the stability of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)-produced stable emulsion. The chemical precipitation method is used to synthesize TiO2 nanoparticles, and their properties were determined using various analytical characterization techniques such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The effect of TiO2 nanoparticles is evaluated by measuring oil/water (o/w) separation, rag layer formation, oil droplet size, and zeta potential of the residual EOR produced emulsion. The laser scattering technique is used to determine the o/w separation. The results showed that spherical-shaped anatase phase TiO2 nanoparticles were produced with an average particle size of 122 nm. The TiO2 nanoparticles had a positive effect on o/w separation and the clarity of the separated water. The separated aqueous phases� clarity is 75 and 45 with and without TiO2 nanoparticles, respectively. Laser scattering analysis revealed enhanced light transmission in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles, suggesting higher o/w separation of the ASP-produced emulsion. The overall increase in the o/w separation was recorded to be 19 in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles, indicating a decrease in the stability of ASP-produced emulsion. This decrease in the stability can be attributed to the improved coalescence� action between the adjacent oil droplets and improved behavior of o/w interfacial film. An observable difference was found between the oil droplet size before and after the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles, where the oil droplet size increased from 3 µm to 35 µm. A similar trend of zeta potential is also noticed in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles. Zeta potential was �13 mV to �7 mV, which is in the unstable emulsion range. Overall, the o/w separation is enhanced by introducing TiO2 nanoparticles into ASP-produced stable emulsion. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. |
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