Synergistic emulsification of polyetheramine/nanofluid system as a novel viscosity reducer of acidic crude oil

Abstract Oil is a critical raw material for energy and industry, the depletion of conventional oil reserves necessitates efficient extraction and production of unconventional resources like acidic crude oil. However, its high viscosity poses significant challenges for transportation and processing. To address these challenges, this study developed a novel emulsion viscosity reducer. We designed a nanofluid based on a synergistic polyetheramine/nanofluid system consisting of alkyl ethoxy polyglycosides (AEG) as a green surfactant, SiO2 nanoparticles, and an organic alkali polyetheramine. The mixture was evaluated for its viscosity reduction and emulsification performance with acidic crude oi obtained from Qinghe oil production plant in Shengli Oilfield. The results showed that the optimized viscosity reducer achieved a remarkable reduction rate of 98.1% at 50◦C in crude oil viscosity from 6862 mPa·s to 129 mPa·s. This demonstrated the reducer effectively transformed acidic crude oil into a low viscosity oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion with high stability. Furthermore, the core imbibition simulation tests demonstrated that the viscosity reducer could improve the recovery of acidic crude oil from 29.6% to 49.4%, indicating the potential application of the optimized viscosity reducer in the exploitation of acidic crude oil. In conclusion, this study developed a novel emulsion viscosity reducer, which can reduce the viscosity and improve recovery of acidic crude oil by emulsifying into O/W emulsion. The optimized formula has potential for practical application in the exploitation of acidic crude oil.