Experimental investigation of combined carbon nanoparticles (CNPs), ionic liquid (I.L), and low salinity water to enhance oil recovery (EOR) at Iraq's southern oil fields

By 2030, global energy demand is expected to increase by 50% with respect to 2020. However, supplies of natural gas and oil are steadily depleting. Therefore, implementing innovative enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology in producing reservoirs is essential to meeting the growing energy demand. EOR is a technique that has currently been in use to increase the rate of oil production. This research demonstrates the novel opportunities of combining carbon nanoparticles, ionic liquid surfactant (dodecyl pyridinium chloride), and low-salinity water to improve oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs. A series of experimental works, comprising sedimentation technique, zeta potential analysis, contact angle measurements, and surface tension tests, were conducted to study the stability and choose the optimal nanofluid for application in EOR. It was discovered that by adding various concentrations of an ionic liquid to a 50 ppm nanocarbon solution, the density of the nanofluid formulations could be slightly reduced, the surface tension could be changed, and the wettability of carbonate rocks could be altered from an oil-wet to a water-wet system. Core-flooding tests were carried out for optimum nanofluid formulation (50 ppm of nanocarbon with 250 ppm of ionic liquid) at different flow rates. Additional oil recoveries of 8.46 % and 20.5 % of the original oil in place were achieved at flow rates of 0.667 cm3/min and 0.334 cm3/min, respectively. This study is one of the first to be conducted in Iraq's oil fields to investigate the potential for EOR using carbon nanoparticles, ionic liquid, and low-salinity water. The results of this research highlight the potential of hybrid nanofluids as a new type of injection fluid for EOR.