Nano Fluids

-What is it?

Nanouids are engineered colloidal

suspensions of nanoparticles in a base uid. In general

the size of these nanoparticles vary from 1-100nm.The
type of nanoparticle used is directly dependent on the
enhancement of a required property of the baseuid.
Asphaltenes

may

be

defined

as

the

heaviest

petroleum fraction insoluble in solvents such as nheptane and n-pentane and other soluble as toluene
and benzene. These fractions, which are removed
from crude resemble tiny rocks and pose serious
production

problems,

since

when

molecules

are

associated together, can form small solid capable of

precipitated and deposited on the porous medium and
along

the

production

system

of

oil.

This

phenomenon is called formation damage by

asphaltenes.

The oil fields are applied chemical and mechanical

treatments to remove asphaltene deposits.
Nanoparticles have attracted the attention of
researchers because of their particular properties and
their possible application in the oil industry regarding
asphaltenes.
Nanotechnology uses materials of nanometric size,
one millionth of a millimeter, so small that they are
invisible to the human eye.
The possibility of using nanomaterials is that those
with high adsorption capacity, thanks to its grain size,
surface area and mineral composition, have the ability
to quickly capture asphaltene oil, even more than
rock, improving mobility site and preventing their
aggregation and adsorption on the rock.
For each oil field, the pressure and temperature
conditions vary, so you need to find in each case the
nanomaterial to optimize the process of adsorption
and inhibition of precipitation of asphaltenes. To
determine the nanomaterial indicated, different
materials are evaluated by experimental evidence.

How is it done?
The capture capacity of the asphaltenes by
nanoparticles and restoring the wettability
to water in the porous medium are
evaluated by two experimental laboratory
tests: adsorption of asphaltenes and
contact angle measurement. The
following materials and methods are
described for each experiment.

Adsorption of asphaltenes:
As mentioned above, the asphaltenes are
the heaviest petroleum fraction, and to
determine the adsorption of these
compounds to be extracted nanomaterials

oil. In the extraction process it is necessary

to use reagents, materials and equipment.
Once prepared materials and equipment,
extraction of asphaltenes is carried out as
follows:

1- initial asphaltenes and toluene solution

in the 500 ml beaker, adding 1L of toluene
per 2,000 mg of asphaltenes is prepared.
2- The solution obtained in the previous
step is manually stirred with glass stirrer.
3- 3 solutions, each with a different
concentration of asphaltenes (250, 750 and
1500 mg / L), using the 20 ml beakers are
prepared. For this initial solution should be
diluted with toluene.
100 mg of 4- nanoparticles are added to
each of the prepared solutions.

5- each solution using the magnetic stirrer

and stirring plates is stirred.
6- Every 15 minutes a representative
sample is taken from each beaker and
change color with UV-vis
spectrophotometer is determined. The
amount of asphaltenes

7- that adsorb on the surface of the

nanoparticle is estimated.
8- data collection is repeated until the
amount of adsorbed asphaltenes equal.

The above procedure is performed in order

to determine which nanoparticle is capable
of adsorbing greater amount of asphaltenes
and which adsorbs faster.

Contact Angle
The contact angle method is to estimate
the angle between a solid surface and a
uid. If the rock is highly wettable to a
species, it adsorbs instantaneously is
indicating a contact angle of about 0 .

When the wettability is changed, changes

the contact angle, depending on whether
the rock is wettable oil or water, that is, if
the rock is more affinity with oil or water.
In order to determine whether the surface
of a porous rock damaged asphaltenes, ie
oil wettable, can be repaired with
nanoparticles.
Process:
1-measure contact angle is taken into the
rock damaged placing a drop of uid
(oil or water) slowly over rocky surface,
and immediately a photograph taken

system. The contact angle is estimated

by a design software.
2-Rock samples are immersed separately
in the respective treatment and
subjected to heating at 60 C for 2
days. Then the samples are dried at the
same temperature for 24 hours.
3-the contact angle is measured again
treated nanoparticles rock surfaces.

Adsorption tests for two different types of

silica and alumina nanoparticles were
used.
It is observed that the alumina
nanoparticles adsorb about twice that
nanoparticles of silica, a phenomenon that
can be due to the physical and chemical
properties possessed by alumina, such as
greater surface area and smaller particle
size.

According to the results of adsorption tests,

the alumina is suitable material for testing
contact angle.
According to the results, it can be
concluded that the use of nanoparticles to
improve oil production leads to restoration
or changing the wettability of the porous
medium, causing the reservoir rock has a
preference for water and allow the oil ows
freely through that. Also, the nanoparticles
are able to capture asphaltenes, leading to
inhibition of precipitation of these porous
medium level, thereby preventing
formation damage.

Conclusion:
By giving solution to the problem of
formation damage by asphaltenes, oil
production increases, as economic gains. It
is worth mentioning that the use of
nanomaterials does not cause ecological

damage, as it does other kinds of chemical

treatments, which are the most
environmentally viable economic option for
the recovery of oil.