Investigating the Effect of Functionalized Carbon Nanoparticles on the Stability of Carbon Dioxide Foam Stabilized with Viscoelastic Surfactant

In this study, the combination of two types of anionic and zwitterionic surfactants was used. By performing the phase behavior test, the optimal combination of two surfactants was found in such a way that the maximum amount of microemulsion of oil in water is formed. The obtained composition has caused stable nitrogen and CO2 foam in the Persian Gulf Sea water salinity and in contact with oil. Due to the use of zwitterionic surfactant, the stability of CO2 foam is 20.9% higher than that of nitrogen foam. By examining the half-life of CO2 foam by the foam column test, the half-life of foam at the optimal concentration was observed to be 145 minutes. The effect of functionalized carbon nanoparticles on the amount of microemulsion of oil in water and the stability of CO2 foam has been studied, and carbon nanoparticles with amine-carboxyl-hydroxyl functional group have performed best and foam stability has improved by 75%. Also, in order to ensure the performance of foam in dynamic conditions, CO2 foam injection was done in the micromodel, and with CO2 foam injection, 86.4% of the original oil was recovered. The use of carbon nanoparticles with amine-carboxyl-hydroxyl functional group improved the recovery of primary oil by 13.5% and 99.9% of primary oil was recovered.