Crude oil has been one of the most important natural resources since 1856, which was the first time a world refinery was constructed. However, the problem associated with trapped oil in the reservoir is a global concern. Consequently, Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is a modern technique used to improve oil productivity that is being intensively studied. Nanoparticles (NPs) exhibited exceptional outcomes when applied in various sectors including oil and gas industries. The harshness of the reservoir situations disturbs the effective transformations of the NPs in which the particles tend to agglomerate and consequently leads to the discrimination of the NPs and their being trapped in the rock pores of the reservoir. Hence, Electromagnetic-Assisted nanofluids are very consequential in supporting the effective performance of the nanoflooding process. Several studies have shown considerable incremental oil recovery factors by employing magnetic and dielectric NPs assisted by electromagnetic radiation. This is attributed to the fact that the injected nanofluids absorb energy disaffected from the EM source, which changes the fluid mobility by creating disruptions within the fluid’s interface and allowing trapped oil to be released. This paper attempts to review the experimental work conducted via electromagnetic activation of magnetic and dielectric nanofluids for EOR and to analyze the effect of EM-assisted nanofluids on parameters such as sweeping efficiency, Interfacial tension, and wettability alteration. The current study is very significant in providing a comprehensive analysis and review of the role played by EM-assisted nanofluids to improve laboratory experiments as one of the substantial prerequisites in optimizing the process of the field application for EOR in the future.

Recent developments propose renewed use of surface-modified nanoparticles (NPs) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) due to improved stability and reduced porous media retention. The enhanced surface properties render the nanoparticles more suitable compared to bare nanoparticles, for increasing the displacement efficiency of waterflooding. However, the EOR mechanisms using NPs are still not well established. This work investigates the effect of in-situ surface-modified silica nanoparticles (SiO₂ NPs) on interfacial tension (IFT) and wettability behavior as a prevailing oil recovery mechanism. For this purpose, the nanoparticles have been synthesized via a one-step sol-gel method using surface-modification agents, including Triton X-100 (non-ionic surfactant) and polyethylene glycol (polymer), and characterized using various techniques. These results exhibit the well-defined spherical particles, particularly in the presence of Triton X-100 (TX-100), with particle diameter between 13 to 27 nm. To this end, SiO₂ nanofluids were formed by dispersing nanoparticles (0.05 wt.%, 0.075 wt.%, 0.1 wt.%, and 0.2 wt.%) in 3 wt.% NaCl to study the impact of surface functionalization on the stability of the nanoparticle suspension. The optimal stability conditions were obtained at 0.1 wt.% SiO₂ NPs at a basic pH of 10 and 9.5 for TX-100/ SiO₂ and PEG/SiO nanofluids, respectively. Finally, the surface-treated SiO₂ nanoparticles were found to change the wettability of treated (oil-wet) surface into water-wet by altering the contact angle from 130° to 78° (in case of TX-100/SiO₂) measured against glass surface representing carbonate reservoir rock. IFT results also reveal that the surfactant treatment greatly reduced the oil-water IFT by 30%, compared to other applied NPs. These experimental results suggest that the use of surface-modified SiO₂ nanoparticles could facilitate the displacement efficiency by reducing IFT and altering the wettability of carbonate reservoir towards water-wet, which is attributed to more homogeneity and better dispersion of surface-treated silica NPs compared to bare-silica NPs.

In this research, the preparation of stable ZnO nanofluids has been studied by the interaction of unmodified ZnO nanoparticles with anionic surfactant, and the impact of this on the electrorheological properties of nanofluid. Using laboratory experiments including measurement of sedimentation and adsorption of surfactant, the sedimentation behavior of ZnO nanoparticles was evaluated. The results show that the most stable aqueous dispersions of ZnO nanoparticles (calcined at 500 and 800°C) is obtained with the aid of 0.025 wt% sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), at a fixed concentration of 0.1 wt% ZnO. The ZnO@500/SDBS dispersion exhibits better stability at high temperature of 95°C, with the percentage stability of 56.6% compare to 44.2% of ZnO@800/SDBS dispersion. The stabilized nanofluids were then subjected for measuring of electrorehological behaviour using a rotating viscometer attached to a custom-built solenoid coil. The rheological measurements indicated that all the nanofluids exhibit pseudoplastic (shear thinning) behavior. At a low shear rate, the viscosity of 0.1 wt% ZnO@500/SDBS dispersion provide an enhancement in the viscosity of nanofluid up to 133% compare to brine as a base fluid. Whereas, ZnO@800/SDBS dispersion shows an increment of 183% in its viscosity under electromagnetic waves. This depicts the role of stability in order to achieve an electrorheological effect by activating dielectric ZnO nanoparticles. Further these investigations explained how the polarization of induced dipoles affects the electrorheology of ZnO nanofluids, by creating chains that align with the applied electric field. Hence the mobility of a stabilized nanofluid can be efficiently controlled by regulating the applied field for EOR purposes.

In this research, the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of different anionic surfactants was determined by employing the UV–Vis spectroscopic technique. The CMC is crucial to evaluate the adsorption of anionic surfactant on a surface of charged metal oxide (i.e. zinc oxide), to prepare a stable nanofluid for different applications including enahced oil recovery (EOR). Three anionic surfactants (sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and oleic acid) were studied in this research. The amount of CMC was determined in the deionized water and brine solution, using the values from the data extracted from the graph between absorbance and concentration of surfactants. A comparative study was also conducted based on CMC results that shows a good agreement between the present research and the literature. In addition, the effect of temperature on CMC value was also examined which provide a better stability of ZnO nanofluid in the high-temperature environment. The overall result reveals that with an addition of salt to the anionic surfactant, repulsive force increases which lead to a decrease in the CMC value. Whereas with the increase in temperature the free energy of the system is affected the result in an additional decline in CMC. However, this decrease is higher in a case of SDS and relatively lower in the case of SDBS and oleic acid. These results suggest that CMC play a significant role to tailor a stable dispersion, to match the conditions of the corresponding application.