Adsorption of Glycyrrhiza glabra natural nonionic surfactant onto the carbonate reservoir rock in the presence of SiO2 nanoparticles surface: Towards enhanced oil recovery

At the moment, about 40% of the current world's crude oil production comes from carbonate reservoirs, completely developed and declining giant oil fields. So, the carbonate reservoirs include large numbers of oil reserves in the world, and the recovery factor of these reservoirs in the primary and secondary steps is around 45%. After the primary and secondary oil production steps, the use of tertiary oil production techniques as a section of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects is an unavoidable issue. In this paper, the main goal of using saponin extracted from the Glycyrrhiza glabra plant as a natural non-ionic surfactant (GG surfactant) with the presence of hydrophilic silica nanoparticles (HISNPs) is to decrease the mobility ratio via reducing the interfacial tension (IFT) value between the water and oil system and mobilizing the crude oil remaining to increase the oil recovery factor. Accordingly, batch adsorption tests under atmospheric conditions at different concentrations and times have been used to comprehend the impact of adsorbate dose on the sorption efficiency. Hence, the electrical conductivity (EC) technique was used to measure the adsorption rate of these materials in the aqueous phase onto the crushed carbonate reservoir rock (adsorbent) surface. The experimental adsorption data were also investigated by various adsorption equilibrium and kinetic models. Therefore, the adsorption parameters were determined for each model. Finally, results showed that the adsorption process of these materials on the adsorbent surface is characterized by a short period of rapid adsorption, followed by a long period of slower adsorption. • Equilibrium adsorption and kinetics of GG surfactant and surfactant nanofluid solutions on the adsorbent surface were determined. • Langmuir isotherm was a suitable model for the equilibrium adsorption behavior of solutions. • Adsorption kinetic behavior of solutions was better in the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. • By increasing the concentration of solutions, the IFT values of the oil and water system were reduced due to the hydrogen bonds between GG surfactant molecules and HISNPs. • The adsorption process of solutions on the adsorbent surface was a type of chemical adsorption process and exothermic.