Research on nanofluids has been conducted extensively. However, to the best of our knowledge the protocol to produce nanofluid which will enhance the physio-chemical properties using external perturbation such as ultrasound and their effect on mass transfer kinetics during near well remediation is not established for field implementation for the oil and gas industry. In this thesis, a comprehensive study has been conducted to investigate the effect of ultrasonic amplitude variation on nanofluids physio-chemical properties. The study includes nanofluids formulation, preparation, optimization, ultrasonication at various amplitude, physio-chemical properties characterization, mass transfer kinetics evaluation and theoretical simulation. The physio-chemical properties characterization was carried out using various established scientific methods outlined in the thesis. The changes in the physio-chemical properties have significant effects on the mass transfer kinetics of near wellbore remediation process for hydrocarbon production improvement. Thus, laboratory experiments simulating the near wellbore remediation and enhance recovery process using the sonicated nanofluids at various amplitudes under isothermal and non-isothermal were carried out using filter cake dissolution and sand packed column flow tests. Filter cake is a layer formed by solid particles in drilling fluid against porous zones due to differential pressure between hydrostatic pressure and wellbore pressure. The mass transfer kinetics evaluation was established for the experimental work. The experiments indicated that the optimum mass transfer enhancement achieved for this study when the nanofluids sonicated at 60% amplitude under non-isothermal conditions. This condition enables us to produce nanofluids with lowest interfacial tension, viscosity, mean average particle size and contact angle properties.
The experimental results for the filter cake dissolution for the best-case scenario was compared with theoretical simulation using Ansys Fluent (version.15). The comparative plot of filter cake dissolution rate for both the experimental and Ansys Fluent simulation showed the best similar correlation trend achieved with the 60% amplitude under the non-isothermal condition. Thus, we could establish a general correlation between the key physio-chemical properties, ultrasonic amplitude, and the mass transfer kinetics during the near wellbore remediation process in the petroleum industry.