English abstract
Enhancing oil recovery (EOR) using a polymer is commonly used as a tertiary recovery to
enhance the production of oil felids that have reached depletion in oil production. It is known
that the sensitivity of the polymer in the harsh environment of the reservoir due to the high
salinity and high temperature weakens the performance of the polymer in EOR such as poor
injectivity, poor sweep efficiency, and gravity override. However, Nanotechnology could be
one of the new techniques that help to overcome the challenges that face the polymer in
CEOR. This study evaluated new aqueous polymeric nanofluid to investigate how effectively
it performed when exposed to different temperatures, salinities, and aging times to improve the
performance of chemical EOR. The polymer used in this study was HPAM with a hydrolysis
level of 40% and a molecular weight of 10 MD. This study's objectives are to improve the
performance of a polymer HPAM by upgrading rheological characteristics using a multi-walled
carbon nanotube functionalized with -COOH (MWCNT-COOH). Synthesized polymeric
nanofluid and its performance will be evaluated through several temperatures and salinities.
The Polymeric nanofluids will be characterized by using the subsequent methods. First, to
detect the bonding of the polymeric nanofluid, the FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared
spectrometer) test will be performed. Then, to study the viscoelastic behavior of polymeric
fluids, which is the most essential property, both static and dynamic shear rate conditions will
be employed. After that, the interfacial tension between oil and a new polymeric nanofluid at
different concentrations and temperatures will be determined using the spinning drop
technique. Additionally, wettability alteration behavior will be studied using contact angle (θ)
measurements of polymeric fluid on an oil-saturated sandstone surface. Finally, core flooding
experiments will be conducted to analyze and compare the ability of novel nano polymeric
composites versus conventional polymers in oil recovery under reservoir conditions. The study
showed that the optimized polymeric nanoparticle injection increased the recovery factor by 10
%. These findings the use of polymeric nanofluids could be a promising methodology to
enhance oil recovery in harsh oil recovery in harsh environments with high temperatures and
salinity. By addressing the limitations of polymer flooding and improving the performance of
chemical EOR, the application of polymeric nanofluids has the potential to maximize oil
production in reservoirs.
