Al-Qadisiyah Journal for Engineering Sciences

Performance evaluation of titanate nano structures on enhancement of oil recovery

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Zainab M. Mahdy
Abdulwahid A. Al-Hajjaj
Shaima Albazzaz

Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Basrah, Al-Basrah, Iraq.

https://doi.org/10.30772/qjes.2024.151866.1311
Abstract
As global energy consumption increases, there is an increasing desire to investigate novel nanotechnology-based approaches for enhancing oil recovery. Integrating nanostructures has shown an augmentation in the rate of crude oil recovery. This study used Iraqi crude oil obtained from well-known fields in Basra, such as Majnoon, Zubair1, North Rumaila, Nahran Omar, and West Qurna1, which feature unique attributes. Titanate nanoparticles (TiNP) and titanate nanotubes (TiNT) were employed as additives to enhance various properties of Iraqi heavy crude oil, including viscosity, API, specific gravity, surface tension, and interfacial tension. These additives were used either as enhancers or for advanced treatment purposes. The study investigated the impact of nanoparticle concentrations on crude oil efficiency in various fields. TiNT showed significant performance in reducing the viscosity of Majnoon crude oil by 37%, outperforming other fields. The addition of 0.1wt% of TiNT reduced surface tension by 15.5%, 14.5%, 15.1%, 18.6%, and 15.7% in Zubair1, North Rumaila, Nahran Omar, and West Qurna1 fields. However, TiNP showed more efficacy in decreasing specific gravity by 4.3% in Majnoon crude oil. The inclusion of titanate nanostructures resulted in API values of 23.5%, 19.5%, 17%, 22.4%, and 21.2% with TiNP and 15.15%, 14.8, 15.4%, 15.6%, and 8.2% with TiNT at a concentration of 0.1wt%.

Keywords

Oil Recovery
Rheological
Titanate
Nanoparticles
Nanotubes
Crude oil
Crossmark
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Al-Qadisiyah Journal for Engineering Sciences
Volume 19, Issue 2
Summer 2026
Pages 211-219

  • Receive Date 13 July 2024
  • Revise Date 13 October 2025
  • Accept Date 10 March 2026

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