Transport Phenomena of Nanoparticles and Their Applications in Enhancing Oil Recovery

纳米颗粒输运现象及其在提高石油采收率中的应用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-06476
• 负责人: Yang, Daoyong
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Regina
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=669157
• 关键词: Transport; Phenomena; Nanoparticles; Their; Applications

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques have been widely implemented in the petroleum industry in order to sustain oil and gas production since residual oil saturation after primary recovery and secondary recovery is generally in the range of 50-60% and up to 90% of the original oil in place (OOIP) for light- and medium-oil reservoirs and heavy oil reservoirs, respectively. Due to the unique physical and chemical properties, laboratory experiments and field applications have shown that nanoparticles can enhance oil recovery through wettability alteration, interfacial tension reduction, mobility control, asphaltene precipitation reduction, and fine migration mitigation, though few attempts have been made to theoretically quantify the fate and transport behaviour of nanoparticles in formation rocks under reservoir conditions. The performance of nanoparticles with various EOR techniques (e.g., low salinity water injection, steam/hot water injection, and alkane solvents-enhanced CO2 injection) has not been theoretically and numerically evaluated due mainly to the fact that the underlying EOR mechanisms remain controversial. The overall objective of this proposed research is to not only quantify the transport phenomena of nanoparticles, but also to investigate and develop suitable nanotechnologies for enhancing oil recovery from both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs. In this proposed research, a comprehensive and systematic approach will be proposed to quantify phase behaviour together with mass and heat transfer among reservoir fluids, external injectants, and intelligent nanoparticles, describe nanoparticle transport for multiphase flow systems, identify the underlying mechanisms together with synergistic effects, and optimize reservoir performance of the nanoparticle-assisted EOR techniques. Finally, the newly developed techniques will be integrated with the existing reservoir simulators (e.g., CMG) to design and optimize nanoparticle-assisted EOR processes under uncertainty. The scientific findings from this proposed research will be used to not only accurately quantify nanoparticle transport phenomena, but also design and optimize nanoparticle-assisted EOR techniques. In addition, the proposed research would enable the petroleum industry to unlock the vast oil and gas reserves in a cost-effective and sustainable manner while minimizing environmental impacts. The proposed research will provide important opportunities for training highly qualified personnel (HQP) in the areas of both petroleum engineering and nano-technological development. These HQP will be valuable assets for Canada in these important technical fields.

提高石油采收率（EOR）技术已在石油工业中广泛应用，以维持油气生产，因为一次采收和二次采收后的残余油饱和度通常在50-60％范围内，最高可达90％。分别针对轻油、中油油藏和稠油油藏的原始石油地质储量（OOIP）。由于其独特的物理和化学性质，实验室实验和现场应用表明，纳米粒子可以通过改变润湿性、降低界面张力、控制流度、减少沥青质沉淀和减缓精细运移来提高石油采收率，尽管理论上很少有尝试。量化储层条件下地层岩石中纳米颗粒的命运和传输行为。纳米粒子在各种 EOR 技术（例如低盐度注水、蒸汽/热水注入和烷烃溶剂增强 CO2 注入）中的性能尚未得到理论和数值评估，主要是因为潜在的 EOR 机制仍然存在争议。这项研究的总体目标不仅是量化纳米粒子的传输现象，而且是研究和开发合适的纳米技术，以提高常规和非常规油气藏的石油采收率。在这项拟议的研究中，将提出一种全面、系统的方法来量化相行为以及储层流体、外部注入剂和智能纳米颗粒之间的传质和传热，描述多相流系统的纳米颗粒输运，识别潜在机制以及协同效应，并优化纳米颗粒辅助 EOR 技术的油藏性能。最后，新开发的技术将与现有的油藏模拟器（例如 CMG）集成，以在不确定性下设计和优化纳米颗粒辅助 EOR 工艺。这项拟议研究的科学发现不仅将用于准确量化纳米颗粒输运现象，还将用于设计和优化纳米颗粒辅助 EOR 技术。此外，拟议的研究将使石油工业能够以具有成本效益和可持续的方式释放巨大的石油和天然气储量，同时最大限度地减少对环境的影响。拟议的研究将为石油工程和纳米技术开发领域培养高素质人才（HQP）提供重要机会。这些总部将成为加拿大在这些重要技术领域的宝贵资产。