Application of a Pickering Emulsified Polymeric Gel System as a Water Blocking Agent.

The conventional methods for controlling excess water production in oil/gas wells can be classified on the basis of the mechanism (pore-blocking mechanism and relative permeability modification) used. Gel systems developed on the basis of a pore-blocking mechanism completely block the pores and stop the flow of both oil and water, whereas a relative permeability modifier (RPM) only restricts the flow of a single phase of the fluid. The gel working on the basis of the pore-blocking mechanism is known as a total blocking gel. An invert emulsified (PAM-PEI) polymer gel is a relative permeability modifier system. The same invert emulsion system is tested as a total blocking gel system in this research work. The dual-injection technique (1st injection and 2nd injection) was used for this purpose. In this research work, the emulsion system was tested at a temperature of 105 °C. The core sections with drilled holes and fractures were used for the core flooding experiments, representing a highly fractured reservoir. The developed emulsified gel system was characterized using a dilution test, an inverted bottle test, microscopic images, and FTIR images. The emulsified polymer gel was tested using a core flooding experiment. After the 2nd injection, the postflood medical CT and micro-CT images of the core sections clearly showed the presence of two different phases in the core section, i.e., the oil phase and the gel phase. The core flooding experiment result indicates that the gel formed after the 2nd injection of the emulsion system can withstand a very high differential pressure, i.e., above 2000 psi. The gel did not allow any oil or water to be produced. Hence, the developed emulsified polymer gel system with the help of a dual-injection technique can be efficiently used as a total blocking gel for high-temperature reservoirs.

Synthesis and Testing of Monoethylene Glycol Carbon Quantum Dots for Inhibition of Hydrates in CO2 Sequestration.

The hydrate formation during the transportation and injection of carbon dioxide in pipelines always leads to the risk of plugging. The development of a cost-efficient CO2 sequestration method requires efficient hydrate inhibitors. In this research work, the synthesized carbon quantum dots (CQDs) of monoethylene glycol (MEG) were tested with CO2 hydrates for their hydrate inhibition efficiency. The hydrothermal method was used for the synthesis of CQDs. The synthesized CQDs were characterized using UV light (365 nm), UV-vis absorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. MEG CQDs were found to have very good water solubility and fluorescence properties. The MEG CQDs were tested for their CO2 hydrate inhibition efficiency using the sapphire rocking cell unit. Test results proved that MEG CQDs are much more effective as a CO2 hydrate inhibitor in comparison to MEG.