Abstract
Biopolymers have shown a great effect in enhanced oil recovery because of the improvement of water-flood performance by mobility control, as well as having been considered for oil contaminated-soil remediation thanks to their mobility control and water-flood performance. This study focused on the wettability analysis of biopolymers such as chitosan (85% deacetylated power), PEO (polyethylene oxide), Xanthan (xanthan gum), SA (Alginic Acid Sodium Salt), and PAA (polyacrylic acid), including the measurements of contact angles, interfacial tension, and viscosity. Furthermore, a micromodel study was conducted to explore pore-scale displacement phenomena during biopolymer injection into the pores. The contact angles of biopolymer solutions are higher on silica surfaces submerged in decane than at atmospheric conditions. While interfacial tensions of the biopolymer solutions have a relatively small range of 25 to 39 mN/m, the viscosities of biopolymer solutions have a wide range, 0.002 to 0.4 Pa · s, that dramatically affect both the capillary number and viscosity number. Both contact angles and interfacial tension have effects on the capillary entry pressure that increases along with an applied effective stress by overburden pressure in sediments. Additionally, a high injection rate of biopolymer solutions into the pores illustrates a high level of displacement ratio. Thus, oil-contaminated soil remediation and enhanced oil recovery should be operated in cost-efficient ways considering the injection rates and capillary entry pressure.
Recommended Citation
S. C. Cao et al., "Engineering Behavior and Characteristics of Water-soluble Polymers: Implication on Soil Remediation and Enhanced Oil Recovery," Sustainability (Switzerland), vol. 8, no. 3, article no. 205, MDPI, Feb 2016.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/su8030205
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Publication Status
Open Access
Keywords and Phrases
Biopolymer; Capillary pressure; Contact angle; Enhanced oil recovery; Interfacial tension; Micromodel
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2071-1050
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
25 Feb 2016
Comments
Louisiana State University, Grant 2015R1A2A1A15054704