TY - JOUR
T1 - A technique for evaluating the oil/heavy-oil viscosity changes under ultrasound in a simulated porous medium
AU - Hamidi, Hossein
AU - Mohammadian, Erfan
AU - Junin, Radzuan
AU - Rafati, Roozbeh
AU - Manan, Mohammad
AU - Azdarpour, Amin
AU - Junid, Mundzir
N1 - Acknowledgments
This research was partly funded by a UiTM Research Excellence Fund (Grant No. 600-RMI/DANA 5/3/RIF 548/2012) and we gratefully acknowledge the support provided. The authors would also like to extend their appreciation to the Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia and Faculty of Petroleum and Renewable Energy Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia for the provision of the laboratory facilities necessary for completing this work.
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
N2 - Theoretically, Ultrasound method is an economical and environmentally friendly or “green” technology, which has been of interest for more than six decades for the purpose of enhancement of oil/heavy-oil production. However, in spite of many studies, questions about the effective mechanisms causing increase in oil recovery still existed. In addition, the majority of the mechanisms mentioned in the previous studies are theoretical or speculative. One of the changes that could be recognized in the fluid properties is viscosity reduction due to radiation of ultrasound waves. In this study, a technique was developed to investigate directly the effect of ultrasonic waves (different frequencies of 25, 40, 68 kHz and powers of 100, 250, 500 W) on viscosity changes of three types of oil (Paraffin oil, Synthetic oil, and Kerosene) and a Brine sample. The viscosity calculations in the smooth capillary tube were based on the mathematical models developed from the Poiseuille’s equation. The experiments were carried out for uncontrolled and controlled temperature conditions. It was observed that the viscosity of all the liquids was decreased under ultrasound in all the experiments. This reduction was more significant for uncontrolled temperature condition cases. However, the reduction in viscosity under ultrasound was higher for lighter liquids compare to heavier ones. Pressure difference was diminished by decreasing in the fluid viscosity in all the cases which increases fluid flow ability, which in turn aids to higher oil recovery in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. Higher ultrasound power showed higher liquid viscosity reduction in all the cases. Higher ultrasound frequency revealed higher and lower viscosity reduction for uncontrolled and controlled temperature condition experiments, respectively. In other words, the reduction in viscosity was inversely proportional to increasing the frequency in temperature controlled experiments. It was concluded that cavitation, heat generation, and viscosity reduction are three of the promising mechanisms causing increase in oil recovery under ultrasound.
AB - Theoretically, Ultrasound method is an economical and environmentally friendly or “green” technology, which has been of interest for more than six decades for the purpose of enhancement of oil/heavy-oil production. However, in spite of many studies, questions about the effective mechanisms causing increase in oil recovery still existed. In addition, the majority of the mechanisms mentioned in the previous studies are theoretical or speculative. One of the changes that could be recognized in the fluid properties is viscosity reduction due to radiation of ultrasound waves. In this study, a technique was developed to investigate directly the effect of ultrasonic waves (different frequencies of 25, 40, 68 kHz and powers of 100, 250, 500 W) on viscosity changes of three types of oil (Paraffin oil, Synthetic oil, and Kerosene) and a Brine sample. The viscosity calculations in the smooth capillary tube were based on the mathematical models developed from the Poiseuille’s equation. The experiments were carried out for uncontrolled and controlled temperature conditions. It was observed that the viscosity of all the liquids was decreased under ultrasound in all the experiments. This reduction was more significant for uncontrolled temperature condition cases. However, the reduction in viscosity under ultrasound was higher for lighter liquids compare to heavier ones. Pressure difference was diminished by decreasing in the fluid viscosity in all the cases which increases fluid flow ability, which in turn aids to higher oil recovery in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. Higher ultrasound power showed higher liquid viscosity reduction in all the cases. Higher ultrasound frequency revealed higher and lower viscosity reduction for uncontrolled and controlled temperature condition experiments, respectively. In other words, the reduction in viscosity was inversely proportional to increasing the frequency in temperature controlled experiments. It was concluded that cavitation, heat generation, and viscosity reduction are three of the promising mechanisms causing increase in oil recovery under ultrasound.
KW - ultrasound
KW - viscosity
KW - smooth capillary tube
KW - differential pressure
KW - paraffin oil
U2 - 10.1016/j.ultras.2013.09.006
DO - 10.1016/j.ultras.2013.09.006
M3 - Article
VL - 54
SP - 655
EP - 662
JO - Ultrasonics
JF - Ultrasonics
SN - 0041-624X
IS - 2
ER -
