Oil and Gas

Biography

Biography: Valery N. Khabashesku

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Fluorescent nanoparticles are becoming high demand products in the oil industry for application as tracers for reservoir monitoring to understand the flow pattern between the wells during waterflood operations and optimize the oil production. The common tracers, based on organic dyes, are not stable in harsh downhole conditions and are difficult to incorporate. Fluorescent carbon-based nanoparticles ??? carbon quantum dots (CQD) have recently drawn much attention due to outstanding fluorescence properties and pending applications towards chemical sensing and bio imaging. In most cases, CQDs outperform the traditional semiconductor-based quantum dots. They are also inherently non-toxic and stable in high temperature and pH conditions and are resistant to photobleaching. Purpose: The purpose of this study is development of low cost and scalable methods for synthesis of fluorescent carbon-based nanoparticles from petrochemical precursors. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: CQDs were synthesized using electrochemical redox reactions. Platinum mesh was used for anode and cathode electrodes, and 0.1M NaOH as an electrolyte in a two-compartment cell. For preparation of fluorescent coreshell nanoparticles colloidal synthesis was applied. Findings: Electrochemical carbonization of low molecular weight petrochemical precursors containing carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen resulted in both water-soluble and oil-soluble CQDs of 10-20 nm size. Addition of nitrogen, boron, silicon or sulfur sources to the reaction produced doped CQDs with the fluorescence bands either blue-(N, B or Si) or red-shifted (S) with respect to undoped particles. Synthesized particles were stable for 30 days in API brine at 80�C and have been recovered at 76% in a flow experiments run through Berea sandstone core. Conclusion & Significance: A facile method has been developed for synthesis of large quantities of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles which can be recovered even from low permeable cores. This can open new opportunities for in situ monitoring of reservoir communication and oil production. Recent Publications 1. Zuniga C et al. (2016) Long term high-temperature stability of functionalized graphene oxide nanoplatelets in Arab-D and API brine. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 8(3):1780-1785. 2. Li H et al. (2012) Carbon nanodots: synthesis, properties and applications. J. Mater. Chem. 22(46):24230-24253. 3. Deng J et al. (2015) Large scale preparation of graphene quantum dots from graphite oxide in pure water via one-step electrochemical tailoring. RSC Adv. 5(38):29704-29707.