US 12,421,442 B2
Nanoparticle-surfactant stabilized foams
Ali Telmadarreie, Calgary (CA); Mingzhe Dong, Calgary (CA); and Steven L. Bryant, Calgary (CA)
Assigned to Cnergreen Corp., Calgary (CA)
Appl. No. 17/442,295
Filed by Cnergreen Corp., Calgary (CA)
PCT Filed Mar. 25, 2020, PCT No. PCT/CA2020/050390
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 23, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/191491, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 1, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/824,910, filed on Mar. 27, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0162497 A1, May 26, 2022
Int. Cl. C09K 8/584 (2006.01); C09K 8/588 (2006.01); C09K 8/594 (2006.01)
CPC C09K 8/584 (2013.01) [C09K 8/588 (2013.01); C09K 8/594 (2013.01); C09K 2208/10 (2013.01)] 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of controlling mobility of subsurface fluids in a hydrocarbon reservoir by deploying a stabilized subterranean foam, the foam comprising a partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle, wherein the nanoparticle has a diameter of 10-15 nm and comprises a charged surface characterized by a capacity to bear a charge, and an oppositely-charged ionic surfactant non-covalently decorating only a portion of the charged surface of the nanoparticle, the method comprising:
providing the surfactant and the nanoparticle in the foam in a surfactant concentration and a nanoparticle concentration of greater than 1 weight %, the nanoparticle and the surfactant thereby being provided in a nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio in the foam so that the surfactant only partially covers the nanoparticle and so that there is no nanoparticle aggregation, thereby forming a stable suspension of individual partially surface-decorated nanoparticles in the foam; and
providing the partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle in the foam in a surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration selected so as to stabilize the foam in the subterranean presence of a hydrocarbon fluid and/or in the subterranean presence of a saline aqueous fluid, and wherein the nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio and the partially surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration are selected in combination to increase subterranean stability of the foam in contact with the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid compared to the subterranean stability of a foam having a different nanoparticle/surfactant concentration ratio and/or a different surfactant-decorated nanoparticle concentration; and
deploying the foam in the reservoir so that the stabilized foam contacts the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid to constrain the subterranean movement of the hydrocarbon fluid and/or the saline aqueous fluid.