Sharif Digital Repository

The proper understanding of rheological characteristics of CGA based fluids is of crucial importance in determining the performance of the fluid, in order to maintain the most effective fluid properties for safe, efficient, and economical drilling operation. This paper presents a concise investigation on the effect of concentration of the three main components of a novel environmentally friendly lightweight CGA based drilling fluid, i.e., xanthan gum biopolymer, starch, and biosurfactant, to the Herschel-Bulkley rheological model parameters. The three parameters of Herschel-Bulkley model, i.e., yield stress, fluid consistency, and fluid flow index were calculated by fitting the experimental... 

In this study, the inverse emulsion polymerization modeling of polyacrylamide with population balance equations (PBEs) was performed. The PBEs were derived on the basis of the zero-one kinetic model. The effects of the surfactant steric barrier and surfactant reaction with radicals, including monomeric radicals, on the radical entry rate into the particle were taken into account. In the modified model, the coagulation phenomenon was included through consideration of the effects of forces not included in the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (DLVO) theory; these include hydration and steric forces in addition to DLVO forces. The effects of the surfactant and initiator concentrations on... 

Characterization of viscous fingering in low tension displacements especially for heavy oil surfactant pair in heterogeneous systems is neither straight forward nor well understood. In this work layered porous models containing fractures with different geometrical properties were used and the finger behavior during displacement of LTNS, as a new EOR agent, in heavy oil was quantified. Dynamic propagation of the fingers independent to the type of heterogeneity is well correlated with the dimensionless displacement time in a linearly form. And also, the rate of finger growth is nearly independent to the type of medium heterogeneity. When injection is scheduled through high permeable region in... 

This paper presents a state of the art review of adsorption models for a new plant-based surfactant adsorption onto sandstone minerals. The adsorption data at both kinetic and equilibrium modes were obtained from batch experiments. Four adsorption kinetic models, five two-parameter, and six three-parameter equilibrium models were used for interpretation of the obtained data. Among the two and three-parameter isotherm models applied, the Jovanovic and the Khan isotherms showed the best fit, respectively. And the pseudo-second order model presented a better fit than other kinetic models. Finally, a computer-based modeling approach was developed and used for predicting the kinetics of... 

In micron-scale, powder consolidation process is driven by diffusion phenomenon, while in nano-scale the higher surface energy of particles leads to some anomalous behaviors within the process. In order to investigate the nano-sintering occurrence, an atomistic approach is employed via molecular dynamics simulations. Within this approach, the effect of particle size and temperature is examined. The study of particle structure emphasizes on a transition on the governing mechanism of process depending on the material energy levels. The results show that in a specific particle size at low temperatures, the main sintering mechanism is the plastic deformation, while at elevated temperatures it... 

In this work, a new type of flooding system, "worm-like micelles", in enhanced heavy oil recovery (EOR) has been introduced. Application of these types of surfactants, because of their intriguing and surprising behaviour, is attractive for EOR studies. Fundamental understanding of the sweep efficiencies as well as displacement mechanisms of this flooding system in heterogeneous systems especially for heavy oils remains a topic of debate in the literature. Worm-like micellar surfactant solutions are made up of highly flexible cylindrical aggregates. Such micellar solutions display high surface activity and high viscoelasticity, making them attractive in practical applications for EOR. In this... 

Highlights: The objective of this work is to investigate the effects of the surfactants on the oil extraction from the dead ends through the numerical simulations and experimental evidences. The volume of fluid approach in the frame of the finite volume method has been used for numerical simulations in 2-D domain and experimental flooding tests have been done using a glassy micro-model. The effects of the water-oil, water-wall and oil-wall interfacial tensions have been investigated numerically and some results are compared to experimental flooding results. Simulations have been done in the cases of water-wet, neutralized-wet and oil-wet micro-models also. The numerical results show that in... 

A biocompatible ferrofluid have been prepared by coprecipitation of FeCl 2.4H 2O and FeCl 3.6H 2O under ultrasonic irradiation and with NaOH as alkaline agent. Cystein was also used as capping agent in the solution. Magnetic properties of the produced ferrofluid were then determined by VSM test and magnetite nanoparticles were characterized by XRD and TEM techniques. The effect of surfactant to Fe ion weight ratio was also studied during this project by using two different amount of Dextran. Results showed the presence of a biocompatible superparamagnetic ferrofluid including magnetite nanoparticles with particle size ranging under 20 nm. The increase in the surfactant content results in the... 

Solvatochromic UV-vis shifts of three probes 4-nitroaniline, 4-nitroanisol, and Reichardt's dye in binary mixtures of polyethylene glycol p-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)-phenyl ether (Triton X-100 or TX-100) with methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and water have been investigated at 298 K. Structural and intermolecular interactions of solvatochromic probes were determined in these systems. Solvatochromic parameters, including normalized polarity (ETN), dipolarity-polarizability (π∗), hydrogen-bond donor (α), and hydrogen-bond acceptor (β) abilities, were measured at a wide range of mole fraction (0 ≤ X ≤ 1) with 0.1 increment. Interestingly, a similar behavior of ETN and α is observed in... 

This study concerns micro-scale analysis of filtration loss control induced by blockage ability of a new colloidal gas fluid, Colloidal Gas Aphron Nano-Fluid (CGANF) in fractured porous media. Fumed silica nanoparticles and a novel environmentally friendly bio surfactant, Olea Europaea, were used for monitoring CGANF displacements in heterogeneous micromodels including single fracture. Analysis of pressure drop along the micromodel during tests showed an increasing resistance to flow of CGANF dispersion through porous media as more CGANF was injected. When lamella division occurs, more small bubbles are formed and then pressure drop through porous media increases. Small bubbles play an... 

Two non-ionic and hydrophilic surfactant additives, Tetronic-1107 and Triton X-100, were added to poly(vinyl chloride)/NMP polymeric solution to prepare ultrafiltration membranes via immersion precipitation. Surfactants at three different weight percentages up to 6 wt% were added, and the fabricated membranes were characterized and their performance for water treatment in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a foulant was assessed. The scanning electron microscopy images indicated remarkable changes in morphology due to higher thermodynamic instability after surfactant addition. The membranes are more porous with more macro-voids in the sub-layer. Plus, the membranes become more... 

In the present study, an aqueous root-extract of Acanthophyllum laxiusculum (AREAL) was evaluated for phenanthrene removal from two samples of contaminated soil. AREAL showed a linear solubilization enhancement for phenanthrene with a weight solubilization ratio of 0.05. Batch soil washing experiments caused the removal of phenanthrene with efficiencies of 96.7% and 78% from soils with 0.78% and 2.73% organic carbon, respectively. Desorption kinetics of phenanthrene exhibited a twophase pattern, namely, a rapid release as the initial phase and a slower removal as a subsequent phase. A two-compartment exponential model could adequately represent the two phases of the kinetic pattern of... 

This study investigates dynamic interfacial tension (DIFT) of acidic crude oil (ACO) and non acidic/basic crude oils (BCO) + deionized water (DW) as a function of pressure from 500 to 4000 psi, and temperature from 30 to 80 °C using an axisymmetric drop shape analysis (ADSA) technique. DIFTs are also modeled using dynamic adsorption model, mono-exponential decay model, and empirical equations. The results showed that if a reduction in the surface excess concentration due to increasing temperature overlooks the total entropy of the molecules in the system, an increase in IFT would be expected  

Storage conditions seem to be important in the long-term stability of nanoparticles (NPs). This work studies the effects of surfactants and storage container on particle size distribution and zeta potential during long-term storage of acid hydrolyzed potato starch NPs. The NPs were prepared from potato starch using acid hydrolysis and high-intensity ultrasonication. During the ultrasonic treatment, the surfactants were added dropwise to the solutions to reduce the size and stabilize the formed NPs. Particle size distribution, zeta potential, and FE-SEM were used to characterize the ensuing NPs. Additionally, a 5-month stability study was performed to evaluate the maintenance of potato starch... 

In this way, after experimental measurement of interfacial tension, different models including mono-exponential decay, dynamic adsorption models and empirical equation are used to correlate this time-dependent behavior of interfacial tension (IFT). During the modeling approach, the induction, adsorption, equilibrium, and meso-equilibrium times as well as diffusivity of surface active components known as natural surfactant including asphaltene and resin from crude oil to the interface are obtained. In addition, the surface excess concentration of surface active components at the interface and Gibbs adsorption isotherm are utilized to analyze the measured dynamic IFTs. Finally, the mechanisms... 

The interfacial properties of crude oil are highly complex and are not yet well understood. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of temperature (30-80°C) and pressure (3.44-27.58MPa) on the dynamic interfacial tension (IFT) of crude oil/aqueous solutions consisting of 15000ppm of salt containing different chloride anions, e.g. NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, and CaCl2. To reach this goal, several parameters, such as dynamic and equilibrium IFT, adsorption time, diffusivity of resin, and asphaltene as surface-active agents from bulk of crude oil towards fluid/fluid interface and surface excess concentration of them at the interface, were compared as a function of temperature, pressure, and ion type. The... 

Owning to interesting properties of biosurfactants such as biodegradability and lower toxicity, they have broad application in the food industry, healthy products, and bioremediation as well as for oil recovery. The present study was aimed to develop a GA-ANFIS model for predicting the breakthrough curves for rhamnolipid adsorption over activated carbon. To that end, a set of 296 adsorption data points were utilized to train the proposed FIS structure. Different graphical and statistical methods were also used to evaluate the model's accuracy and reliability. Results were then compared to those of the previously reported Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Group Method Data Handling (GMDH)... 

Ionic liquids (ILs) can be tailored as chemical surfactants and surface active agents to reduce the interfacial tension (IFT) of crude oil/aqueous solutions for enhanced oil recovery processes. The current investigation was aimed to explore the nature of ingenious active agents in crude oil, including asphaltene and resin, and their possible interactions with two families of ILs, namely pyridinium and imidazolium, on the IFT of crude oil/aqueous solutions, both in the presence and absence of MgCl2. To the best of our knowledge, the effect of crude oil type on the IFT of crude oil/aqueous solution containing salts and IL has not been ever investigated. Accordingly, IFTs of light, medium and... 

Pulsating heat pipes are cooling devices that are partially filled with working fluid. Working fluid thermophysical properties affect the thermal performance of pulsating heat pipes. In this research, the effect of adding a Triton X-100 surfactant to pure water and using the mixture as a working fluid is investigated experimentally. The results indicate that adding surfactant leads to improvement in the thermal performance of the pulsating heat pipe. In particular, the maximum of the thermal resistance improvement is about 61%, which is attributed to 0.01% surfactant concentration. Higher heat transfer ability is attributed to lower surface tension and the contact angle of the mixture... 

The interfacial properties of crude oil are highly complex and are not yet well understood. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of temperature (30–80 °C) and pressure (3.44–27.58 MPa) on the dynamic interfacial tension (IFT) of crude oil/aqueous solutions consisting of 15 000 ppm of salt containing different chloride anions, e.g. NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, and CaCl2. To reach this goal, several parameters, such as dynamic and equilibrium IFT, adsorption time, diffusivity of resin, and asphaltene as surface-active agents from bulk of crude oil towards fluid/fluid interface and surface excess concentration of them at the interface, were compared as a function of temperature, pressure, and ion type....