Modeling of Enhanced Oil Recovery (Published)
The demand for energy has been increasing exponentially and at present time, this cannot be fulfilled by renewable energy alone. Crude oil has remained one of the major mineral resources for energy. It is difficult for a populated developing country like Nigeria, to keep a balance between the supply and demand of crude oil. In recent years, considerable studies have been conducted to search for efficient technologies for recovering oil from old oil reservoirs since about two-thirds of the oil in the reservoir cannot be recovered by conventional methods. The trapped oil in the reservoir can be recovered by enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods such as chemical, thermal, gas, and microbial methods. Nanofluid flooding is found to be one of the efficient methods that have gained importance as nanoparticles have been found to alter the rock wettability which helps in oil recovery. It has also been found that the use of modeling to evaluate the performance of any process before conducting any experiments is found to be a more economical and effective practice. Therefore, the present modeling work was carried out to explore the application of nanofluid in EOR using COMSOL Multiphysics.This study investigates the effect of different parameters on EOR such as the addition of nanoparticles (Al2O3) in water, the porosity of the reservoir, and diffusion coefficients of nanofluid on oil saturation in reservoirs. Velocity contours, temperature contours, and oil saturation contours within the reservoir were investigated.
Keywords: Modeling, crude oil, recovery
Quantitative Analysis of Heavy Metals in Produced Water from Ndx 011 in Niger-Delta Oil Field (Published)
Oil and gas production is usually accompanied by water (brine), which is referred to as produced water. As oil and gas production declines, the quantity of water production from same reservoir increases. These produced waters have many components, which mostly have adverse environmental impacts. One of such components are the heavy metals which are numerous. Produced water sample from Niger Delta crude oil was investigated for five (5) heavy metals. The analysis was carried out using an Ultraviolet Visible Spectrophotometer. The analysis was carried out (in line with industry standard) on the produced water sample in order to determine the concentrations of the heavy metals present. The results obtained from this analysis showed that the concentrations of one out of the five heavy metals investigated (Arsenic (As)) was more than the allowable limits set by regulatory bodies. Arsenic (As), Boron (B), Manganese (Mn), Tin (Sn), and Barium (Ba) have concentrations of 0.9599mg/L, 0.0955mg/L, 0.000433mg/L, 0.31730mg/L, and 0.0019mg/L respectively compared with maximum limits set by the regulatory bodies as 0.3mg/L Arsenic, 5mg/L Boron, 0.004mg/L Manganese, 10mg/L Tin and 1.3mg/L Barium. This showed that the produced water from oil and gas activities in Niger Delta region of Nigeria should be tested and treated for Arsenic and other present heavy metals that may have concentrations higher than standard limits set by regulatory bodies before disposal and/or re-use.
Keywords: Heavy Metals, Niger-Delta, Produced water, crude oil