The effects of nanofluid thermophysical properties on enhanced oil recovery in a heterogenous porous media

Abstract

To accurately simulate nanofluid flooding for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in oil reservoirs, it is essential to consider the porous media's heterogeneity. This heterogeneity causes variations in porosity and permeability, which require significant computational resources and time to ensure precise modeling. Additionally, the previous models focus on the impact of thermophysical properties on enhanced oil recovery using a single variable volume fraction. This research proposed a model to evaluate the effect of nanofluid (NF) thermophysical properties in a heterogeneous porous medium. For the first time, the thermophysical properties of the SiO2-water flooding correlations are functions of two variables: volume fraction and inlet temperature, resulting in reduced computational time and cost-effectiveness. Four essential parameters, nanoparticle type, volume fraction, inlet temperature, and flow rate, were considered to evaluate the effect of NF properties on the EOR process. The obtained result indicated that the optimal parameters for EOR were the water with silicon oxide at a volume fraction of 4%, the inlet temperature = 353.15 K, and the flow rate of 0.2 ml/min. Remarkably, this combination resulted in a significantly higher oil recovery factor of 27% compared to pure water flooding.