Ultimate oil recovery and displacement efficiency at the pore-scale are controlled by the rock wettability thus there is a growing interest in the wetting behaviour of reservoir rocks as production from fractured oil-wet or mixed-wet limestone formations have remained a key challenge. Conventional waterflooding methods are inefficient in such formation due to poor spontaneous imbibition of water into the oil-wet rock capillaries. However, altering the wettability to water-wet could yield recovery of significant amounts of additional oil thus this study investigates the influence of nanoparticles on wettability alteration. The efficiency of various formulated zirconium-oxide (ZrO2) based nanofluids at different nanoparticle concentrations (0-0.05 wt. %) was assessed through contact angle measurements. Results from the experiments showed ZrO2 nanofluid have great potentials in changing oil-wet limestone towards strongly water-wet condition. The best performance was observed at 0.05wt% ZrO2 nanoparticle concentration which changed an originally strongly oil-wet (152°) calcite substrate towards a strongly water-wet (44°) state thus we conclude that ZrO2 is a good agent for enhanced oil recovery.
In this study, sulfur was removed from imitation oil using oxidative desulfurization process. Silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-11) was prepared using the hydrothermal method with a concentration of carbon nanotubes (CNT) of 0% and 7.5% at 190 °C crystallization temperature. The final molar composition of the as-prepared SAPO-11 was Al2O3: 0.93P2O5: 0.414SiO2. 4% MO/SAPO-11 was prepared using impregnation methods. The produced SAPO-11 was described using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms). It was found that the addition of CNT increased the crystallinity of SAPO-11. The results showed that the surface area of SAPO-11 cont
... Show MoreThe depletion of petroleum reserves and increasing environmental concerns have driven the development of eco-friendly asphalt binders. This research investigates the performance of natural asphalt (NA) modified with waste engine oil (WEO) as a sustainable alternative to conventional petroleum asphalt (PA). The study examines NA modified with 10%, 20%, and 30% WEO by the weight of asphalt to identify an optimal blend ratio that enhances the binder’s flexibility and workability while maintaining high-temperature stability. Comprehensive testing was conducted, including penetration, softening point, viscosity, ductility, multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR), linear amplitude sweep (LAS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), F
... Show MoreThis work studied the facilitation of the transportation of Sharqi Baghdad heavy crude oil characterized with high viscosity 51.6 cSt at 40 °C, low API 18.8, and high asphaltenes content 7.1 wt.%, by reducing its viscosity from break down asphaltene agglomerates using different types of hydrocarbon and oxygenated polar solvents such as toluene, methanol, mix xylenes, and reformate. The best results are obtained by using methanol because it owns a high efficiency to reduce viscosity of crude oil to 21.1 cSt at 40 °C. Toluene, xylenes and reformate decreased viscosity to 25.3, 27.5 and 28,4 cSt at 40 °C, respectively. Asphaltenes content decreased to 4.2 wt. % by using toluene at 110 °C. And best improvement in API of the heavy cr
... Show MoreThe present research has investigated the effect of microwave energy on improving the flow properties of heavy crude oil. The fragmentation of crude oil molecules was carried out with and without using 1 and 10 wt. % concentration of various types of H-donors like tetralin, cyclohexane, and naphtha. Microwave power of 320, 385, and 540 W and radiation time 1-9 min, and temperature were studied. The kinematic viscosity and asphaltene content were measured for evaluation the improving of heavy crude oil. Results show that viscosity of crude oil decreased with increase H-donor concentration, a maximum percentage of viscosity reduction was10.63 % for tetralin at 6 min radiation time, while 8.67%, and 7.34% for cyclohexane a
... Show MoreLand forms are result from interaction between lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. Lithosphere composed of lithologic units and the main units of the study area are: limestone, marl, marley limestone, sandstone, pebbly sandstone, mudstone, claystone and secondary gypsum in addition to Quaternary sediments. Landforms of the study area can be subdivided according to their origin into many units: 1- Structural- denudational: plateau, mesas, hills, cliffs and wadis; 2- Denudational: desert pavement and mushroom rock; 3-Mass movements; 4- Solution: lake, salt marsh, piping caves; 5- Springs; 6- Fluvial: terraces, alluvial fan, infilled wadi, flood plain; 7- Drainage units; 8-Evaporational: sabkha, secondary
... Show MoreEnvironmental pollution is regarded as a major problem, and traditional strategies such as chemical or physical remediation are not sufficient to overcome the problems of pollution. Petroleum-contaminated soil results in ecological problems, representing a danger to human health. Bioremediation has received remarkable attention, and it is a procedure that uses a biological agent to remove toxic waste from contaminated soil. This approach is easy to handle, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly; its results are highly satisfactory. Bioremediation is a biodegradation process in which the organic contaminants are completely mineralized to inorganic compounds, carbon dioxide, and water. This review discusses the bioremediation of petroleum-
... Show MorePermeability estimation is a vital step in reservoir engineering due to its effect on reservoir's characterization, planning for perforations, and economic efficiency of the reservoirs. The core and well-logging data are the main sources of permeability measuring and calculating respectively. There are multiple methods to predict permeability such as classic, empirical, and geostatistical methods. In this research, two statistical approaches have been applied and compared for permeability prediction: Multiple Linear Regression and Random Forest, given the (M) reservoir interval in the (BH) Oil Field in the northern part of Iraq. The dataset was separated into two subsets: Training and Testing in order to cross-validate the accuracy
... Show MoreSpatial data analysis is performed in order to remove the skewness, a measure of the asymmetry of the probablitiy distribution. It also improve the normality, a key concept of statistics from the concept of normal distribution “bell shape”, of the properties like improving the normality porosity, permeability and saturation which can be are visualized by using histograms. Three steps of spatial analysis are involved here; exploratory data analysis, variogram analysis and finally distributing the properties by using geostatistical algorithms for the properties. Mishrif Formation (unit MB1) in Nasiriya Oil Field was chosen to analyze and model the data for the first eight wells. The field is an anticline structure with northwest- south
... Show More
