Naser Ali

The techno-economics of producing effervescent tablet-based nanofluids in start-up industries was investigated. The thermophysical properties, equipment costs, consumables, and operational expenditures for the production methods were determined. Electrical costs for running the devices were assessed based on the lowest, average, and highest prices worldwide. Key financial metrics, including accumulated project cost, interest, annual cost, operating expenses, production cost, payback and discounted payback periods, and internal rate of return (IRR) were calculated for different interest rates and amounts of sold products. The thermal performance under laminar and turbulent flow conditions and cost effectiveness were determined. The results showed that the effervescent tablet-based nanofluid was more favourable than its conventional counterpart. This is because of the lower equipment cost for the effervescent tablet process compared to its counterpart. The interest rate showed significant influence on the annual and product costs for both types of projects. Electrical cost had a minimal impact on the previous costs for both project cases. In addition, the effervescent tablet-based project outperformed its counterpart in terms of payback period, discounted payback period, IRR, and thermal performance, making it an optimal choice for investors and decision-makers.

While nanofluids can contribute enormously to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the upstream sector, conventional nanofluids are produced using complex equipment and expertise, which is somewhat limiting. To address this issue, herein, the use of effervescent‐tablet‐based nanofluids for EOR is reported. Tablets are formed by mixing and consolidating multi‐walled carbon nanotubes, surfactants, and effervescent agents. Both tablet‐based and conventional nanofluids are produced and then characterized for their thermal conductivities and dispersion stabilities. Thirteen recovery scenarios are investigated using a core flooding system, and include the use of single conventional fluids, steam and hot water cycles, steam with effervescent‐tablet‐based nanofluids, and steam with conventional nanofluids. Conventional or effervescent‐tablet‐based nanofluids are revealed to double the amount of extracted oil compared with other methods used in the recovery process. Tablet‐ and conventional‐nanofluid‐based recovery cycles provide 42.70% and 42.56% recovered oil, respectively, whereas conventional fluids and their cycles only extract 16.10% and 17.76%, respectively. The concentration and stability of the dispersed nanomaterial significantly affect the amount, properties, and composition of the recovered oil. Employing nanofluids composed of highly concentrated effervescent agents results in more short‐chain hydrocarbons, which indicates that effervescent‐tablet‐based nanofluids are promising for EOR use, particularly because no infrastructure modifications are required.

Crystallization occurs as dissolved substances gradually solidify into crystal layers within a liquid, which can increase the capability of fluids to transfer heat. In this study, the growth of crystal layer in nanofluids produced from carbon-based effervescent tablets was examined. The tablets were fabricated by combining multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium phosphate monobasic (NaH₂PO₄), and sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃). The effervescent tablets were formulated with MWCNTs, NaH₂PO₄, and Na₂CO₃ at a weight ratio of 1:5.1:2.26, respectively. These tablets were then immersed in distilled water (DW) and seawater (SW) to produce 0.05 vol.% to 0.15 vol.% MWCNT suspensions. Then, the dispersion stability, thermal conductivity, and crystal layer growth of the nanofluids were characterized. The results showed that the DW-based nanofluids were more stable than their SW-based counterparts. Additionally, the 0.05 vol.% DW-based suspension exhibited greater long-term stability than those of the 0.15 vol.% suspensions, whereas the SW-based nanofluid exhibited the opposite behaviour. The greatest increases in thermal conductivity were 3.29% and 3.13% for 0.15 vol.% MWCNTs in DW and SW, respectively. The crystallization process occurred in nanofluids that contained more than 0.05 vol.% MWCNTs and exhibited a greater growth rate in SW-based suspensions with high effervescent agent concentrations.