Impact of Natural Surfactant (Reetha), Polymer (Xanthan Gum), and Silica Nanoparticles To Enhance Heavy Crude Oil Recovery

Abstract

The recovery of heavy crude oil is limited because of the high interfacial tension (IFT) between the crude oil and aqueous phase, which restricts the extent of emulsification and results in poor mobility. This study focuses on the potential of an extracted natural surfactant (Reetha) to recover heavy crude oil by examining various mechanisms accountable for improved oil recovery. The synergy of the natural surfactant, a polymer (xanthan gum), and silica nanoparticles toward the IFT behavior, emulsification, creaming index, rheology, wettability alteration, and core flooding experiments was investigated. The stability of the nanoparticles in the chemical solution was examined by the ζ potential values. Rheology studies were carried out to understand the complexities involved in the system. The core flooding experiments with natural surfactant–polymer chemical solutions resulted in an oil recovery of 18.5% which was enhanced to 27.3% for the nanofluid (natural surfactant–polymer–nanoparticles) system. Thus, the study successfully determines the application of the nanofluid solution to improve the recovery of heavy crude oil.