Understanding the stability mechanism of silica nanoparticles: The effect of cations and EOR chemicals

We have investigated the conditions of colloidal stability of silica nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm for their applications in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), especially pertaining to chemical flooding processes. Using zeta sizer and dynamic light scattering techniques, the stability of silica nanoparticle (SNP) dispersions has been...

Adsorption behavior of anionic surfactants to silica surfaces in the presence of calcium ion and polystyrene sulfonate

Adsorption behavior of surfactants to rock surfaces is an important issue in oil recovery, especially in the process of surfactant flooding. The surfactant loss through adsorption to rock surfaces makes such process economically less feasible. Here, we investigated the adsorption behavior of anionic surfactants (alcohol alkoxy sulfate, AAS)...

Salt cavern volume estimation from pressure response: compressibility-based method

Salt caverns formed by solution mining may cause soil subsidence, because the surrounding adapts to fill the void (cavity) created in the strata. The cavern volume is hence not only a function of salt extraction (estimated from mass balance) but also a function of salt creep. The cavern size can be measured by sonar, but a less costly way would...

Pumped Hydro Storage: Pressure Cavern

The current Dutch electricity market is changing rapidly. New energy agreements demand 40% of Dutch electricity to be produced by renewable sources. This will complicate the link between supply and demand. Where demand used to be the only unknown, also a large part of the electricity supply will become less certain. It is necessary to be able to...