[CCoE Notice] MS DEFENSE

[Knudsen, Rachel W]

DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM



Tuesday, December 8, 2020



10:00 AM – 12:00 PM CST



Zoom link:

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://uofh.zoom.us/j/93254521394?pwd=cFlDL3FYV1YwOGl6MFZMK1F4dmZiQT09__;!!LkSTlj0I!VXZSOCOLAoOMu2CysQqtDJgxQtvJIFTgHEGZ7sImiChwpsq_79OMYF3de3cK1Fptt9A$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/uofh.zoom.us/j/93254521394?pwd=cFlDL3FYV1YwOGl6MFZMK1F4dmZiQT09__;!!LkSTlj0I!QnOwlhNXd1AhCxdlNILCAxjVE9Zk06zqqJBnO9sEviS5YJcIF5IOLNIb8d89xkA$>





Danial Zareei

Master’s Thesis Defense



Advisor: Dr. Michael T. Myers





“Non-thermal Recovery of Heavy Oil and Oil Sands Using Nanoparticle”





Abstract



Heavy oils and oil sand resources are the largest portion of known energy resources globally, comprising 70% of total resources worldwide. Examples include Venezuela, Canada, and the USA. There is however still significant potential to increase oil production from these reservoirs. Serious criticisms of the methods and processes that are currently used exist; in particular, they have low efficiency and negative environmental effects. A more efficient method that improves recovery with a smaller carbon footprint would benefit the exploitation of these reserves.

Injection of sodium-based nanomaterials has the potential to be an important alternative method for improving heavy oil production. They initiate a series of advantageous reactions; have low surface energy consumption, and low waste production. Injecting metallic sodium produces both heat and gas, and generates in-situ surfactant (“soap”).

This technique was used to examine the incremental oil extracted sand packs saturated with Athabasca oil sand. The sand packs were injected with the sodium nanoparticles suspended in a dispersant were studied to investigate the incremental recovery realized after an initial brine flood. This was compared to baseline experiments injecting only the dispersant fluid. A series of static and dynamic tests were performed to investigate the efficiency of the floods and the characteristics of the produced alkali fluid. The overall conclusion was that the use of sodium nano-fluids significantly improves recovery factors from heavy oil resources and offers promise as an economical method for field use with reduced environmental impact.










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