Changing oil-wet surfaces toward higher water wettability is of key importance in subsurface engineering applications. This includes petroleum recovery from fractured limestone reservoirs, which are typically mixed or oil-wet, resulting in poor productivity as conventional waterflooding techniques are inefficient. A wettability change toward more water-wet would significantly improve oil displacement efficiency, and thus productivity. Another area where such a wettability shift would be highly beneficial is carbon geo-sequestration, where compressed CO2 is pumped underground for storage. It has recently been identified that more water-wet formations can store more CO2. We thus examined how silica based nanofluids can induce such a wettability shift on oil-wet and mixed-wet calcite substrates. We found that silica nanoparticles have an ability to alter the wettability of such calcite surfaces. Nanoparticle concentration and brine salinity had a significant effect on the wettability alteration efficiency, and an optimum salinity was identified, analogous to that one found for surfactant formulations. Mechanistically, most nanoparticles irreversibly adhered to the oil-wet calcite surface (as substantiated by SEM–EDS and AFM measurements). We conclude that such nanofluid formulations can be very effective as enhanced hydrocarbon recovery agents and can potentially be used for improving the efficiency of CO2 geo-storage.
Polycaprolactone is one of the natural biodegradable polymers mainly used in bioplastics production for packaging, usually composed of non-toxic compounds and biodegradable. The aim was to examine the role of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanopowder on the,wettability , thermal and anti-bacterial effect nanocomposites. Pure PCL and PCL-based bio- nanocomposites doped with various ratios of ZnO nanoparticles from 0% to 5wt% were prepared through the arrangement of throwing procedure. The results show that wettability properties in relation to ideal PCL and that they were increasingly hydrophobic from 57º.8 to 69º.53 because add ZnO nanocomposites,the thermal stability between 300 and 400 ° C makes them perfect for the application
... Show MoreIn the present study, nanoporous material type MCM-41 was prepared by the sol-gel technique and was used as a carrier for prednisolone (PRD) drug delivery. The structural properties of mesoporous were fully characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption /desorption and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR). The mass transfer in term of adsorption process (loading) and desorption process (releasing) properties were investigated. The maximum drug loading efficiency was equal to 38% and 47.5% at different concentrations. The PRD released was prudently studied in water media of pH 6.8 simulated body fluid (SBF) in according to "United State Pharmacopeia (USP38)". The results proved that the release of prednisolone from MCM-41
... Show MoreHigh-volume traffic with ultra-heavy axle loads combined with extremely hot weather conditions increases the propagation of rutting in flexible pavement road networks. Several studies suggested using nanomaterials in asphalt modification to delay the deterioration of asphalt pavement. The current work aims to improve the resistance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) to rutting by incorporating Nano Silica (NS) in specific concentrations. NS was blended into asphalt mixtures in concentrations of 2, 4, and 6% by weight of the binder. The behavior of asphalt mixtures subjected to aging was investigated at different stages (short-term and long-term aging). The performance characteristics of the asphalt mixtures were evaluated using the Marshall s
... Show MoreMoisture damage is described as a reduction in stiffness and strength durability in asphalt mixtures due to moisture. This study investigated the influence of adding nano silica (NS) to the Asphalt on the moisture susceptibility of hot-mix-asphalt (HMA) mixtures under different aging conditions. NS was mixed with asphalt binder at concentrations of 2%, 4%, and 6% by weight of the binder. To detect the microstructure changes of modified Asphalt and estimate the dispersion of NS within the Asphalt, the field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) was used. To examine the performance of Asphalt mixed with NS at different aging stages (short-term and long-term aging), asphalt mixture tests such as Marshall stability,
... Show MoreThis research aims at making a comparative survey between the dry season in (2017-2018) and the wet season (2018-2019) in Iraq concerning the variation of rainfall and pressure systems responsible for such a difference. In this paper, seven climatological stations have been selected: Mosul, Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Baghdad, Rutba, Diwaniyah and Basra. Results have shown that the first category of rainfall of the two seasons has recorded a higher number of rainy days in comparison with the second and third categories with a total of 274 day in a dry season and 403 day of a wet season. Further, the total amount of the annual continuous rain is higher than the total of thunderstorms in a dry season as well as in the
... Show MoreCarbon dioxide (CO2) flooding is an EOR technique in which carbon dioxide is injected into the reservoir to improve the oil recovery. The reservoir oil and rock properties are altered when carbon dioxide interacts with the oil and rock present in the reservoir. Carbon dioxide injection alters the oil and rock properties by causing reduction in oil viscosity, oil swelling and wettability alteration of the rock. This paper will present a proposal to study the wettability alteration in carbonate formations during miscible carbon dioxide flooding. In miscible carbon dioxide flooding, the injection pressure of carbon dioxide would be kept above the minimum miscibility pressure. Thus carbon dioxide is miscible with the oil present in the reservoi
... Show MoreThe extraction of Basil oil from Iraqi Ocimum basillicum leaves using n-hexane and petroleum ether as organic solvents were studied and compared. The concentration of oil has been determined in a variety of extraction temperatures and agitation speed. The solvent to solid ratio effect has been studied in order to evaluate the concentration of Ocimum basillicum oil. The optimum experimental conditions for the oil extraction were established as follows: n-hexane as organic solvent, 60 °C extraction temperature, 300 rpm agitation speed and 40:1mL:g amount of solvent to solid ratio.
This study assessed the advantage of using earthworms in combination with punch waste and nutrients in remediating drill cuttings contaminated with hydrocarbons. Analyses were performed on day 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 of the experiment. Two hydrocarbon concentrations were used (20000 mg/kg and 40000 mg/kg) for three groups of earthworms number which were five, ten and twenty earthworms. After 28 days, the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration (20000 mg/kg) was reduced to 13200 mg/kg, 9800 mg/kg, and 6300 mg/kg in treatments with five, ten and twenty earthworms respectively. Also, TPH concentration (40000 mg/kg) was reduced to 22000 mg/kg, 10100 mg/kg, and 4200 mg/kg in treatments with the above number of earthworms respectively. The p
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