Hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells is a water intensive process. Limited availability, cost and increasing government regulations restraining the use and disposal of fresh water have led to the need for alternative fracturing fluids. Using CO2 foam as a fracturing fluid can drastically reduce the need for water in hydraulic fracturing. We address the addition of polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles (PECNP) to surfactant solutions to improve foam stability, durability and rheological properties at high foam qualities. Polyelectrolyte pH and polyanion/polycation ratios were varied to minimize particle size and maximize absolute zeta potential of the resulting nanoparticles. Rheological tests were conducted on foam systems of varying surfactant/PECNP ratios and different foam quality to understand the effect of shear on viscosity under simulated reservoir conditions of 40°C and 1300 psi. The same foam systems were tested for stability and durability in a view cell at reservoir conditions. Supercritical CO2 foam generated by surfactant alone resulted in short lived, low viscosity foam because of surfactant drainage from foam lamellae. However, addition of PECNP strengthens the foam film by swelling the film due to increased osmotic pressure and electrostatic forces. Electrostatic interactions reduce dynamic movement of surfactant micelles, thereby stabilizing the foam lamellae, which imparts high durability and viscosity to supercritical CO2 foams. From the rheology test results, it was concluded that increasing foam quality and the presence of PECNP resulted in improved viscosity. Also, foam systems with PECNP showed promising results compared with foam generated using surfactant alone in the view cell durability test. The addition of optimized polyelectrolyte nanoparticles to the surfactant can improve viscosity and durability of supercritical CO2 foam during hydraulic fracturing, which can lead to large reductions in water requirements.
This content will become publicly available on March 20, 2025
Effects of shear-induced crystallization on the complex viscosity of lamellar-structured concentrated surfactant solutions
Material relationships at low temperatures were determined for concentrated surfactant solutions using a combination of rheological experiments, cross-polarized microscopy, calorimetry, and small angle X-ray scattering. A lamellar structured 70 wt% solution of sodium laureth sulfate in water was used as a model system. At cold temperatures (5 °C and 10 °C), the formation of surfactant crystals resulted in extremely high viscosity. The bulk flow behavior of multi-lamellar vesicles (20 °C) and focal conic defects (90 °C) in the lamellar phase was similar. Shear-induced crystallization at temperatures higher than the equilibrium crystallization temperature range resulted in an unusual complex viscosity peak. The effects of processing-relevant parameters including temperature, cooling time, and applied shear were investigated. Knowledge of key low-temperature structure–property-processing relationships for concentrated feedstocks is essential for the sustainable design and manufacturing of surfactant-based consumer products for applications such as cold-water laundry.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2112956
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10526227
- Publisher / Repository:
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Soft Matter
- Volume:
- 20
- Issue:
- 15
- ISSN:
- 1744-683X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 3299 to 3312
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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