Fines migration is a serious problem facing the oil and gas industry. Migration of fines can be controlled through the use certain substances which have the capacity to trap fine particles. In this paper, some nanoparticles and fluid dispersants which have the ability to control migrating fines were investigated. The nanoparticles were hydrophobic silicon oxide; the fluid dispersants were ethanol, potassium chloride and water, while the fines and the formation were kaolinite and glass beads respectively. An experiment was conducted to determine the best nano-fluid that could trap a relatively large amount of fine particles. Results show that hydrophobic silicon oxide dispersed in ethanol had the best performance. 0.5g of hydrophobic silicon oxide dispersed in ethanol trapped 17.58g of kaolinite. The primary mechanisms through which fines were trapped were electrostatic forces of adsorption between the molecules of the nano-fluids and fines and are affected by PH and zeta potentials. The pH values of the nano- fluids and the concentrations of the nanoparticles dispersed in fluids were measured, while the zeta potentials were calculated by a modified Smoluchowski's equation. Trapping of fines was mostly favoured by low PH values and concentrations and high zeta potential of silicon oxide nanoparticles dispersed in ethanol.

Keywords : Nanoparticles; Fluid Dispersants; Nano- Fluids; Kaolinite; Fines Migration; Trapping; PH; Zeta Potential; Concentration; Smoluchowski's Equation.