Nanoparticle-surfactant stabilized foams
AssigneeCnergreen Corp.
InventorsAli Telmadarreie, Mingzhe Dong, Steven L. Bryant
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Stabilized foams are provided, adapted in particular for subterranean applications in hydrocarbon recovery operations. The foams are stabilized with surfactant-decorated nanoparticles, and the decoration of the nanoparticles with surfactant may be titrated to tune the stabilization of the foam.
Claims9
A method of controlling mobility of subsurface fluids in a hydrocarbon reservoir by deploying a stabilized subterranean foam, the foam comprising a partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle, wherein the nanoparticle has a diameter of 10-15 nm and comprises a charged surface characterized by a capacity to bear a charge, and an oppositely-charged ionic surfactant non-covalently decorating only a portion of the charged surface of the nanoparticle, the method comprising:
- providing the surfactant and the nanoparticle in the foam in a surfactant concentration and a nanoparticle concentration of greater than 1 weight %, the nanoparticle and the surfactant thereby being provided in a nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio in the foam so that the surfactant only partially covers the nanoparticle and so that there is no nanoparticle aggregation, thereby forming a stable suspension of individual partially surface-decorated nanoparticles in the foam;
- and
- providing the partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle in the foam in a surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration selected so as to stabilize the foam in the subterranean presence of a hydrocarbon fluid and/or in the subterranean presence of a saline aqueous fluid, and wherein the nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio and the partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration are selected in combination to increase subterranean stability of the foam in contact with the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid compared to the subterranean stability of a foam having a different nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio and/or a different surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration;
- and
- deploying the foam in the reservoir so that the stabilized foam contacts the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid to constrain the subterranean movement of the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid.
A method of controlling mobility of subsurface fluids in a hydrocarbon reservoir by deploying a stabilized subterranean foam, the foam comprising a partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle, wherein the nanoparticle has a diameter of 10-15 nm and comprises a charged surface characterized by a capacity to bear a charge, and an oppositely-charged ionic surfactant non-covalently decorating only a portion of the charged surface of the nanoparticle, the method comprising:
- providing the surfactant and the nanoparticle in the foam in a surfactant concentration and a nanoparticle concentration of greater than 1 weight %, the nanoparticle and the surfactant thereby being provided in a nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio in the foam so that the surfactant only partially covers the nanoparticle and so that there is no nanoparticle aggregation, thereby forming a stable suspension of individual partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticles in the foam;
- and
- providing the partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle in the foam in a surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration selected so as to stabilize the foam in the subterranean presence of a hydrocarbon fluid and/or in the subterranean presence of a saline aqueous fluid, wherein the nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio and the partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration are selected in combination to stabilize the foam in contact with the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid for more than 120 minutes;
- and
- wherein the nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio and the surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration are selected in combination to increase subterranean stability of the foam in contact with the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid compared to the subterranean stability of a foam having a different nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio and/or a different surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration;
- and
- deploying the foam in the reservoir so that the stabilized foam contacts the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid to constrain the subterranean movement of the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.