Xiao, L.; Hou, J.; Wang, W.; Raj, I. Development of a Novel High-Temperature Microemulsion for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Tight Oil Reservoirs. Materials2023, 16, 6613.
Xiao, L.; Hou, J.; Wang, W.; Raj, I. Development of a Novel High-Temperature Microemulsion for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Tight Oil Reservoirs. Materials 2023, 16, 6613.
Xiao, L.; Hou, J.; Wang, W.; Raj, I. Development of a Novel High-Temperature Microemulsion for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Tight Oil Reservoirs. Materials2023, 16, 6613.
Xiao, L.; Hou, J.; Wang, W.; Raj, I. Development of a Novel High-Temperature Microemulsion for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Tight Oil Reservoirs. Materials 2023, 16, 6613.
Abstract
Microemulsions with excellent properties have shown significant potential for enhancing oil recovery from tight formations through spontaneous imbibition. This work present a high-temperature-tolerant lower-phase microemulsion (HTLP-ME) using a microemulsion dilution method. The properties and morphological characteristics of HTLP-ME were evaluated and proposed a enhanced spontaneous imbibition oil recovery mechanism using imbibition tests and CT scanning technology. The results show that the optimum concentration of HTLP-ME is 0.2wt% has a superior thermal stability, small particle size, lower IFT, good wettability alteration ability, and minimum adsorption loss. Imbibition and CT experiments showed that the longer the imbibition distance, the better is the effect on spontaneous imbibition oil recovery. Furthermore, the solubilization coefficient and self-driving force were defined and calculated to quantitatively analyze the imbibition mechanisms. The imbibition mechanisms demonstrate that the reduction of oil/solid adhesion is due to the synergistic effect of IFT reduction and wettability alteration, and the ability to increase the imbibition distance through a larger self-driving force.
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