Synergy of surfactant mixtures and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles for Enhanced oil recovery (EOR)

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is a method to increase oil production by altering the reservoir's physiochemical interaction between fluids and rock minerals. Surfactants, as one of the components of EOR, have limitations such as low stability at high temperatures and salinity. Therefore, nanoparticles are a potential approach to solving this challenge. In this study, the surfactant mixture (anionic and amphoteric surfactant) and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles are candidate nanofluids for increasing advanced drain oil. A mixture of 4% surfactant mixture and 0.01% Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles could give optimum results with an IFT value of 0.089 mN/m and form Winsor type III microemulsion. In addition, the performance of surfactant-Fe₃O₄ nanofluid was also observed based on coreflooding experiments. Coreflood test results showed that surfactant-Fe₃O₄ nanofluid increased the oil recovery factor more than surfactants alone. The total oil recovery obtained using a surfactant-Fe₃O₄ nanofluid reached 76.50% of OOIP. Therefore, the synergy of surfactants and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles are promising approaches for EOR.