We have known several techniques which involve nano technology, used for improving EOR, from nano fluids to nano polymer fluids to a mixture of different nano fluids to nano Wag, and we have learned that that we have stages from primary to tertiary of their usage. So these are all possibilities of increasing oil recovery so what prevents me from using them all once say, after using water flooding then nano fluid we hit 75% oil recovery then if each technique I add, increases 2 or 3 % wont it cover its cost, here 2% resemble several barrels ? or are all these techniques only for laboratory studies because of their cost ? , from what I have read we can use some techniques simultaneously is it done in reality ?
Most serious aspect is cost efficiency - if crude oil some day turns into real black gold there might be a good chance for nanotec in EOR. Second, the nanofluids need to have large robustness against complex oil composition, aqueous phase underground and mineral composition, not to get flocculated or adsorbed.
The nanotechnology has been widely used in several other industries, and the interest in the oil industry is increasing. Nanotechnology has the potential to profoundly change enhanced oil recovery and to improve mechanism of recovery. Various nanofluids can be designed by the addition of nanoparticles to different base fluids. The stability or dispersion of nanoparticles in solutions relies on the functionality (or surface activity) of the nanoparticles.In the past decade, most investigations have shown that nanoparticles (NPs) offer promise for future enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes where silica-based NPs have been most commonly used. Polymeric microspheres and nanospheres have been applied as water mobility control both as a pilot and full field and showed fantastic results in reducing water cut, increasing sweep efficiency and improving oil recovery. Some studies reported that polymeric microspheres and nanospheres can swell when meet with water and then reduce water permeability due to its ability to reduce the capillary force and change water flow path. Consequently water goes into bypassed area and enhances displacement efficiency. Flooding experiments revealed that nanoparticles can efficiently enhance surfactant flooding, and greater additional oil recovery can be obtained by the inclusion of nanoparticles into surfactant solutions. However, chemical EOR is not expected to impact world’s oil production for at least two decades, if it is ever implemented at commercial scales.
The research was focused on the following points; reduce the viscosity of the heavy oil
using super critical CO2 and Viscosity Reducing Injectant saturated by nanoparticles; exploit the thermal properties of nanoparticles for enhanced heat
transfer to heavy oil. More technical limitation of nanoengineered water technologies is that they are rarely adaptable to mass processes, and at present, in many cases are not competitive with conventional treatment technologies. Nevertheless, nanoengineered materials offer great potential for water innovations in the coming decades, in particular for decentralized treatment systems, point-of-use devices, and heavily degradable contaminants.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4294021/
Can we calculate the cost or the energy requirements of preparing these silica NPs?
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