Effects of Nano-Particles (al, al2o3, cu, cuo) in Emulsion Treatment and Separation

Abstract In this work, we seek to explore the unique potential of nano-particles of aluminum, copper and their oxides in the treatment of oil- water emulsion, which has been one of the major problems in the oil-industries. The nano-particles of the above aluminum, copper and their oxides, from published studies, showed that they increase the densities of their base fluids. Correlations like Pak and Cho correlation for density calculation proved the improvement in densities of base fluids when nano-particles are dispersed in them. This material property (density) was investigated in this research work to show how these above mentioned nano-particles affect the treatment of emulsion. We focused on presenting a study of the separation of oil in water emulsion which normally, is the case at the surface separating facilities, after the oil is lifted to the surface and separated from the accompanying water. The main goal here is to increase the density of the water by impregnating it with the nano-particles in the oil in water emulsion which in turn by gravity will increase the rate of settling from the oil. In this work, the Pak and Cho correlation was employed to show how the density of the associated water in the produced oil is increased using nano-particles of aluminum, copper and their oxides, which are paramagnetic in nature. And are retrieved by employing a magnetic field so that the nano-particles are recycled and reused from time to time with only a periodic make up to ensure effective magnetization and retrieval of the particles before the final destination of the water. We proposed the external magnetic field technology in this study, because often times, the water may be disposed off to the environment or re-injected into the formation for oil reservoir pressure maintenance purposes.