Experimental assessment of surfactant and silicon oxide nanoparticle hybrid for enhanced oil recovery using Niger delta formation
Petroleum and Gas Engineering University of Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria.
Research Article
International Journal of Scholarly Research in Engineering and Technology, 2026, 08(01), 001–013.
Article DOI: 10.56781/ijsret.2026.8.1.0016
Publication history:
Received on 17 June 2026; revised on 04 August 2026; accepted on 08 August 2026
Abstract:
Due to the inconveniences experienced by the injection of surfactants, in which there are a low reduction in interfacial tension, high technical costs and large amounts of surfactant adsorbed on the rock; new technologies have been proposed to optimize surfactant injection processes, where the application of nanoparticles is seen as a proposal to improve the technique performance. Surfactant enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology has received much attraction due to its excellent capability to increase the displacement efficiency by altering the wettability, and mobilizing the remaining oil. However, surfactant systems are widely acknowledged to have high adsorption on solid (rock/clay/sediment) surfaces most especially at higher salinity and temperature levels. In this research catanoic cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and anionic Sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) surfactants were evaluated in hybrid with silicon oxide nanoparticle against oil recoveries and permeability change for 30000ppm and 60000ppm salinity and temperature of 29oC and 60oC. The study compares the effect of stand- alone catanoic cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and anionic Sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) surfactants for salinity range 30,000ppm and 60,000ppm. The efficiency of the formulated fluids was tested using twelve core samples of Niger - Delta sand and the flooding was done at the temperatures of 29oC and 60oC. The result revealed that formulations with nanoparticle gave higher recovery than standalone fluids. 0.1% SDS/0.1%wt SiO2 concentration gave the highest cumulative recovery of 86.36% as to compare with 0.1% SDS standalone fluid and 0.05wt% SDS/0.05wt% CTAB concentrations which has cumulative oil recoveries of 80.95% and 69.57% respectively at 29oC. The anionic SDS fluids gave higher recovery than cationic CTAB fluids with better permeability change. The use of silicon oxide nanoparticle homogenously mixed with SDS surfactant altered the properties of hydrocarbons that aided in easy sweeping of the reservoir pore throats and reduces formation damage.
Keywords:
Enhanced Oil Recovery; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfonate; Surfactant; Silicon Oxide; Permeability Damage
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