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Based in Houston, Texas, Nissan Chemical America Corporation is a division of Nissan Chemical Corporation founded in Japan in 1887. A forerunner in chemical innovations for more than 130 years, Nissan Chemical has been perfecting nanoparticle technology since 1951, making it one of the first companies in the world to produce highly surface-modified colloidal particles for industrial applications.

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Contact Angle Evaluation

University of Alberta · Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Nissan Chemical America Corporation is committed to innovative product development. Third-party evaluation provides valuable and unbiased insight into the effectiveness of our solutions and are an integral part of our pursuit of greater product performance and increased customer profitability.


Contact Angle Meter
Optical Contact Angle Goniometer

Methodology

University of Alberta scientists polished the end pieces of Montney Formation core plugs to get smooth surfaces for measuring liquid-liquid contact angle (CA) on oil-saturated end pieces by using a high-resolution camera. For CA measurement a contact angle goniometer was used. The oil-saturated end piece is placed into a glass cell which is filled with the fluid sample, then an oil droplet is dropped by a J-shape syringe needle on the rock surface.

Results

Table 2 lists the measured contact angles of an oil droplet on the surface of oil-saturated end pieces which were immersed into different aqueous fluids. From Table 2, the oil droplet CA ranges between 94° and 108° in fresh water, which indicates that the oil-saturated rock is initially oil-wet in reservoir brine.

For fresh water with different concentrations of nanoActiv® HRT and nanoActiv® EFT, the oil droplet CA is very low, indicating that the oil-saturated rock surface is highly water-wet after exposure to the nanoparticles.

Table 1
Oil Properties Quantity
Relative density (g/cc) 0.74
Absolute density (kg/m3) 738.0
API Gravity 46.8
Surface tension (mN/m) 25.5
Viscosity (cP) 3.56
Total sulphur (mass percent) ASTM D4294 0.107

Summary

Wettability affects relative permeability, electrical properties, nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation times, and saturation profiles in the reservoir. The wetting state impacts waterflooding and aquifer encroachment into a reservoir.

Based on the CA measurement results, it is clear nanoActiv® HRT and nanoActiv® EFT change the wettability of oil-saturated rock surface making it more water-wet. Treatments that change the wettability of the formation from oil-wet to water-wet can significantly enhance productivity.

Table 2
Aqueous Fluids Contact angle of oil droplet on oil-saturated rock surface
T=1 min T=600 min*
Fresh Water 94° 108°
Fresh water with HRT (5 Wt%) 30° 17°
Fresh water with HRT (10 Wt%) 32° 43°
Fresh water with EFT (0.5 GPT) 55° 47°
Fresh water with EFT (1 GPT) 44° 34°

*Fresh water contact angle was measured at 60 minutes.

Table 3
Aqueous Fluids Interfacial Tension (mN/m)
Fresh Water 1.842
with HRT (5 Wt%) 0.447
with HRT (10 Wt%) 0.373
with EFT (0.5 GPT) 0.186
with EFT (1 GPT) 0.211

The interfacial tension between oil and different aqueous fluids were also measured by a spinning drop tensiometer.

Imbibition Oil Recovery Graph

Oil recovery factor vs. time for twin core plugs immersed in brine and nanoActiv® solution. Adding nanoActiv® in water significantly increases oil recovery rate and the final recovery factor.

Fresh Water
Fresh Water with HRT (5 Wt%)
Fresh Water with HRT (10 Wt%)
Fresh Water with EFT (0.5 GPT)
Fresh Water with EFT (1 GPT)

nanoActiv® is made in the USA · Patented in the US and other countries