Comparative Analysis of Ethanol and Magnesium Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

In recent years, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has gained global attention as a promising technique for recovering trapped oil in reservoirs after primary recovery. This study describes EOR experiment, conducted in the laboratory using ethanol and magnesium oxide to ascertain the extent to which it can increase production of oil in depleted reservoirs. Ten litres of crude oil were added to 5g, 10g, 15g, 20g and 25g of ethanol and magnesium oxide nanoparticles respectively. A perfect mixture of same concentration was gotten using Ethanol impregnated with Magnesium oxide nanoparticle (MgO). The crude sample was poured into a typical reservoir model prototype to a volume of 10 litres. The valves and adjustable clips were properly tightened and fastened to maintain pressure and also to prevent blowout. EOR using gas flooding (nitrogen gas) was released into the reservoir prototype with inlet pressure of 1bar and the outlet pressure at 18psi for a period of 10seconds.The result shows that ethanol impregnated with magnesium oxide at 5ml and 5g yielded the highest oil recovery at 9.7 litres followed by ethanol impregnated with magnesium oxide at 10ml and 10g, and at 20ml and 20g which recorded oil recovery at 9.3liters and 9.3liters respectively. The least oil recovery was 7 litres at 15mil of ethanol. The findings from these experiments suggest that nanoparticles serve effectively as EOR agents, and that ethanol can improve their performance.