An Experimental Study on the Effect of a Nanofluid on Oil-Water Relative Permeability.

The low porosity and low permeability of tight oil reservoirs call for improvements in the current technologies for oil recovery. Traditional chemical solutions with large molecular size cannot effectively flow through the nanopores of the reservoir. In this study, the feasibility of Nanofluids has been investigated using a high pressure high temperature core-holder and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The results of the experiments indicate that the specified Nanofluids can enhance the tight oil recovery significantly. The water and oil relative permeability curve shifts to the high water saturation side after Nanofluid flooding, thereby demonstrating an increase in the water wettability of the core. In the Nanofluid flooding process the oil recovery was enhanced by 15.1%, compared to waterflooding stage. The T2 spectra using the NMR show that after Nanofluid flooding, a 7.18% increment in oil recovery factor was gained in the small pores, a 4.9% increase in the middle pores, and a 0.29% increase in the large pores. These results confirm that the Nanofluids can improve the flow state in micro-sized pores inside the core and increase the ultimate oil recovery factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]