Abstract

Rock wettability change is one of the important parameters that determine Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in which various Nanoparticles (NPs) have influenced in that regard. Hence, proving an alternative approach to improve wettability is essential, it was recently proposed that modifying wetted reservoir rock by applying an Electro Magnetic (EM) field (Electrowetting) can facilitate oil displacement because the injected NPs could be activated profoundly under EM field and lead to bring an optimistic change. Dielectric NPs were recently used for electrowetting analysis due to their essential thermal conductivity and a reasonable outcome was subsequently reported. This is attributed to the free charges of the dielectric NPs that were found to be attracted by the electric field near the contact line, and the polarized dipoles of the NPs that appear to be on the oil/NFs interface because of which the electrowetting will subsequently improve. Hence, electrowetting could serve as a substantial approach that can facilitate oil displacement in the reservoir which in turn improves EOR.

Keywords: Electrowetting; Dielectric NPs; Enhanced oil recovery

Abbreviations: NPs: Nanoparticles; EM: Electro Magnetic; EOR: Enhanced Oil Recovery