conference paper · SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition
Researchers have evaluated a biodegradable enhanced oil recovery fluid formulated from modified cassava peel cellulose, silica nanoparticles, and a surfactant. Carboxymethylation of the agricultural waste enhanced its solubility, hydrophilicity, and thermal stability, allowing it to withstand reservoir temperatures up to 240 degrees Celsius before initial degradation. Laboratory core-flooding tests on sandstone cores demonstrated that combining modified cassava peel cellulose with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant achieved oil recovery factors of up to 86.7 percent. Adding 0.25 percent silica nanoparticles further increased the total recovery factor to 88.35 percent by improving displacement and fluid stability. However, higher nanoparticle concentrations led to excessive viscosity and pore blockage, which lowered incremental recovery. Overall, the findings demonstrate that modified cassava peel provides an effective, sustainable, and chemically stable polymer component for oil recovery under moderate salinity and temperature conditions.
Standard enhanced oil recovery operations often depend on costly synthetic polymers that can harm the environment. Converting abundant agricultural waste such as cassava peel into functional polymers provides a sustainable, biodegradable alternative. This formulation demonstrates high oil recovery efficiency under moderate reservoir conditions, potentially reducing both the environmental footprint and material costs associated with conventional chemical oil recovery techniques.
The formulation targets enhanced oil recovery applications within the petroleum industry, offering oilfield operators a biodegradable alternative to synthetic polymers. The technology is at an applied laboratory stage, having demonstrated effectiveness in core-flooding trials on sandstone samples. Further development would require scaling the chemical modification of cassava waste and testing fluid stability, transport, and recovery behaviour across broader field-scale conditions.
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Abstract This study examined the potential of an innovative environmentally sustainable and biodegradable enhanced oil recovery (EOR) formulation consisting of carboxymethyl cellulose from modified cassava peel (MCP), silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant. The cassava peel cellulose was effectively modified via carboxymethylation, as established by XRD, FTIR and TGA analyses. XRD displayed enhanced crystallinity with distinct cellulose I and II peaks, whereas FTIR ascertained the replacement of hydroxyl groups with carboxymethyl functionalities, increasing hydrophilicity and solubility. TGA results showed better thermal stability of MCP (onset and final degradation at 240 °C and 531 °C respectively) relative to the unmodified peel, affirming suitability under reservoir operating conditions. EOR core-flooding trials were undertaken using sandstone cores saturated with 30,000 ppm brine and crude oil of 46.44 cP viscosity. Variable concentrations of MCP (0.5–5 %), SiO2-NPs (0.05–0.5 %), and CTAB (0.05–0.5 %) established that the recovery factor (RF) and incremental recovery (IR) were greatly influenced by polymer–surfactant–nanoparticle interactions. The optimum binary blend of 4 % MCP + 0.25 % CTAB attained a RF of 86.7 % and IR of 28.9%, while 2.5 % MCP + 0.5 % CTAB displayed a slightly reduced RF of 83.3 % but a higher IR of 53.8 %. Integrating 0.25 % silica nanoparticles additionally improved the RF to 88.35 %, indicative of enhanced microscopic displacement and stability. However, higher nanoparticle concentrations (> 0.25 %) caused viscosity buildup and possible pore plugging, slightly reducing incremental recovery. The results confirm that MCP synthesized from cassava peel can serve as a cost-effective, biodegradable polymer for sustainable EOR operations, providing high recovery efficiency and good thermal and chemical stability under moderate salinity and temperature conditions.
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DOI: 10.2118/234992-ms
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