| In order to develop and apply nanotechnology in oil industry, nanoparticles transport in porous media has been studied in the past few years. Theoretical modeling were carried out to evaluate nanoparticle mobility and investigate nanoparticle retention mechanism. In this study, a simulator based on Ju and Fan's mathematical model was used to study nanoparticles transport in porous media on a reservoir scale. The simulator was verified with two simulation software, Eclipse from Schlumberger and MNM1D (Micro- and Nanoparticle transport Model in porous media in 1D geometry) developed by Tosco et al. Different injection scenarios were simulated: continuous injection, slug injection, and postflush. The effect of injection time, injection rate, and slug size on oil recovery were studied. The result discovered that when nanofluids flooding is used after water flooding as tertiary recovery method, early nanofluids injection will lead to higher oil recovery, but with more nanoparticle loss. Higher injection rate of nanofluids could help improve the flooding efficiency, but not the ultimate oil recovery for field development. Also, it can cause more nanoparticle loss. Brine water postflush is recommended when doing nanoflooding. It can significantly improve the recovery of nanoparticles, and for a homogeneous or heterogeneous reservoir, oil recovery is better compared to water flooding. |
