Effect of PCL-PEG Fe3O4 Janus nanoparticles on stability of CO2 and Air foam in Enhanced Oil Recovery

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the stability of foams made with Janus iron nanoparticles and CTAB Surfactant. Gas injection into a reservoir is one of the most widely used methods which has been utilized in oil recovery. However, due to the low viscosity of the gas, its adverse mobility causes the oil not to move in the reservoir. Foam reduces the gas injection problems by increasing its viscosity. Stable carbon dioxide-in-water emulsions were formed with iron Janus nanoparticles adsorbed at the interface. The emulsion stability were characterized. The emulsion stability was raised with increasing the nanoparticle concentration and using air instead of CO2. The results showed that iron Janus nanoparticles were not able to enter the interface of water-gas emulsion due to their massive weight. These nanoparticles slightly affected the foam stability but, few nanoparticles could enter the interface by surfactants which causes increasing the foam thermal stability.

Keywords:

Janus , foam , iron nanoparticles , stability , surfactant , CO2 foam , Air foam , enhanced oil recovery