TY - JOUR
T1 - Lignin Nanoparticles as Highly Efficient, Recyclable Emulsifiers for Enhanced Oil Recovery
AU - Gao, Kai
AU - Liu, Jinyu
AU - Li, Xiang
AU - Gojzewski, Hubert
AU - Sui, Xiaofeng
AU - Vancso, G. Julius
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the MESA+ Institute of Nanotechnology, and the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Twente for providing financial support. K.G. thanks the China Scholarship Council for providing a scholarship support (scholarship no. 202006440024). The authors thank Dr. M.A. Hempenius for his help and guidance with the 2D NMR experiments and analysis. The authors also acknowledge the Textile Science and Technology Innovation Centre of Donghua University, Shanghai, China, for financial assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/7/25
Y1 - 2022/7/25
N2 - Emulsification is one of the important processes in chemical flooding to mobilize the residual oil in wells following secondary recovery. Oil displacement efficiency is enhanced and volumetric sweep efficiency is increased by engineering the interactions of the supporting chemicals used with the geological formations present in the wells. Polymers and surfactants are often applied to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as emulsification displacement. However, polymers are limited by poor temperature and salt tolerance, while surfactants have a high cost. In this contribution, we report on the use of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) as Pickering emulsifiers obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis of lignin powders to apply in EOR. The interfacial activity of LNPs prepared this way is greatly improved, which substantially promotes its emulsification ability. We show that kerosene emulsified with different concentrations of LNPs can form stable Pickering emulsions, and the emulsions can be stored for up to 6 months. In addition, due to the pH responsive character of lignin, rapid oil-water separation can be achieved by alkali demulsification. This enables the reuse of lignin suspension under pH control, which provides a new platform for the application of green and low-cost flooding, employing LNPs in EOR.
AB - Emulsification is one of the important processes in chemical flooding to mobilize the residual oil in wells following secondary recovery. Oil displacement efficiency is enhanced and volumetric sweep efficiency is increased by engineering the interactions of the supporting chemicals used with the geological formations present in the wells. Polymers and surfactants are often applied to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) as emulsification displacement. However, polymers are limited by poor temperature and salt tolerance, while surfactants have a high cost. In this contribution, we report on the use of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) as Pickering emulsifiers obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis of lignin powders to apply in EOR. The interfacial activity of LNPs prepared this way is greatly improved, which substantially promotes its emulsification ability. We show that kerosene emulsified with different concentrations of LNPs can form stable Pickering emulsions, and the emulsions can be stored for up to 6 months. In addition, due to the pH responsive character of lignin, rapid oil-water separation can be achieved by alkali demulsification. This enables the reuse of lignin suspension under pH control, which provides a new platform for the application of green and low-cost flooding, employing LNPs in EOR.
KW - Demulsification
KW - Enhanced oil recovery
KW - Lignin nanoparticles
KW - Pickering emulsion
KW - Recyclable emulsifiers
KW - UT-Hybrid-D
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135706874&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c01101
DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c01101
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85135706874
SN - 2168-0485
VL - 10
SP - 9334
EP - 9344
JO - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
JF - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
IS - 29
ER -