New article published: Response of crude oil deposited organic layers to brines of different salinity: An atomic force microscopy study on carbonate surfacesThe various microscopic processes that take place during enhanced oil-recovery upon injecting low salinity brines are quite complex, particularly for carbonate reservoirs. In this study, we characterize the in-situ microscopic responses of the organic layers deposited on flat Iceland spar calcite surface to brines of different salinity using Atomic force Microscopy (AFM). Organic layers were deposited from crude oil at the end of a two-step aging procedure. AFM topography images reveal that the organic layers remain stable in high-salinity brines and desorb upon exposure to low-salinity brines. In addition, the organic layers swell in low-salinity brines, and the stiffness of the organic layers is found to directly proportional to the brine salinity. These observations are explained in terms of ‘salting-out’ effects, where the affinity of organic layers to solvent molecules increases upon reducing the brine salinity. The swelling and desorption of organic materials provide access for the brine to mineral surface causing dissolution and change in wetting properties of the surface. Our results show the significance of de-stabilizing the organic layer on rock surfaces in order to design any successful improved oil recovery (IOR) strategy.Read more
New article published: Towards enhanced oil recovery: Effects of ionic valency and pH on the adsorption of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide at model surfaces using QCM-Dhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169433221010710Read more
New article published: Response of crude oil deposited organic layers to brines of different salinity: An atomic force microscopy study on carbonate surfaces
New article published: Towards enhanced oil recovery: Effects of ionic valency and pH on the adsorption of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide at model surfaces using QCM-D
New article published: Charging composite silicon oxide-fluoropolymer electrets by electrowetting: new paper published in Advanced Functional Materials
Congratulations Dr. Davood Baratian
Congratulations Dr. Aram Klaassen
New article published: In-situ observation of reactive wettability alteration using algorithm-improved confocal Raman microscopy
Congratulations Niels Mendel with your Master Award for the best Master thesis of TNW
New article published: Energy Harvesting from Drops Impacting onto Charged Surfaces
New project on CO2 fixation granted
New article published: Charge Trapping‐Based Electricity Generator (CTEG): An Ultrarobust and High Efficiency Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting from Water Droplets
Harvesting energy from droplets
New article published: Optical measurements of oil release from calcite packed beds in microfluidic channels
