Ryosuke Okuno

University of Texas at Austin

Aqueous nanobubble dispersion for EOR and CCS

The amount of gaseous species in water or brine can be enhanced in the form of nanobubble (NB) dispersion. Although aqueous NB dispersion has vast industrial applications, they are currently limited to atmospheric pressure, in which the bubbled water is generated in an open system near atmospheric pressure.  Aqueous NB fluid can be generated with a greater amount of the gaseous species at a higher pressure, and therefore, it finds more useful applications at elevated pressures.  

This presentation will summarize recent studies of aqueous NB dispersion at high pressure, including thermodynamic data/modeling, NB generation, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and CO₂ mineralization in (ultra)mafic rocks.  Several methods of further increasing the gas concentration in aqueous NB dispersion will be quantitatively discussed based on recent experimental data.  EOR experimental data will show a systematic comparison among water flooding, carbonated-water flooding, and CO₂-NB-dispersion flooding. Finally, potential applications of aqueous NB dispersion of CO₂ for mineralization in (ultra)mafic rock formations will be discussed based on experimental data.