Modeling of Resistivity of Sand Pack and Core Injected with Nanoparticles

Nanotechnology has immersed in oil and gas industries through different disciplines such as production, exploration and refinery. Many researches have been established on nanoparticles application in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), detection of hydrocarbon and down-hole equipment. The small size of nanoparticles which is much smaller than the pores throat size enables them to be easily injected into the formation without damaging the formation. The dielectric property of Nanoparticles can be used to modify or enhance the electrical property of a porous medium. This research was an effort to study the effects of nanoparticles on resistivity measurements that can be used in reservoir characterization to improve the resistivity reading and help in determination of rock properties. It can be useful for identification of low resistivity pay zone and to increase efficiency of resistivity logs. Resistivity change due to presence of nanoparticles was studied by using different types of nanoparticles which were Zinc Oxide, Aluminum Oxide, Nickel Iron Oxide, Manganese Iron Oxide and Silicon Oxide. Nanoparticles were injected into sand pack and the resistivity changed of the sand pack was measured using SCIP tester. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles gave the highest resistivity change while Silicon Oxide nanoparticles gave the lowest resistivity change. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles gave higher resistivity change due to its dielectric material properties that reduce the electric conductivity at the rock surfaces. The effect of different nanoparticles concentration was also studied by using different concentration of Zinc Oxide and Silicon Oxide nanoparticles. The results shown that different concentration of nanoparticles gave different resistivity reading. Another experiment was carried out using cores to find the effect of resistivity change in different rock permeability. It was observed that in high permeability, the change of resistivity was higher compared to cores with low permeability. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles is the most suitable nanoparticles to be used to give porous medium distinctive resistivity change which were also influenced by the porosity and permeability of the rock properties.