We are inviting you on board, to move forward together in the Right Direction
Application of nanotechnology for enhancing oil recovery presentation
1. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Application of Nanotechnology for
Enhancing Oil Recovery: Nanofluids/
Smart Fluids
Dr. Narendra Kumar Agnihotra
TCE QSTP-LLC, Doha, Qatar
Email: nkagnihotra@tce.co.in
Offshore Middle East Conference 21-23 January, 2013, Doha, Qatar
2. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
World Oil Scenario
Proven oil reserves currently stand at 1,197.7 billion barrels
~ 81% of total proven oil reserve available in the world
~ 7.0x1012 barrel of oil will remain in oilfields
Source: OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin, 2012
3. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Only 40-50% oil can be recovered through available technologies
Secondary
Injecting fluids to increasing the pressure
Tertiary
Injecting steam to heating oil
and reduce viscosity
Pumping CO2 to reduce
Pressure & reduce viscosity
Other stages
Injecting Chemical agents/
Polymer Surfactants etc to
reduce surface tension,
wettability, interfacial tension etc
Primarily 10-15% recovery by buoyancy force
State of Art Technologies
4. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
What is Nanotechnology?
1 Nanometer = 10-9 meter
- Billionth part of meter
Control / manipulation of materials on an atomic / molecular scale
- Normally dealing with sizes of 1 to 100 nanometers
- Fabrication of device / system within the nanometer length scale
Nanotechnology is
Engineering with
molecules and atoms
5. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Applications: Oil & Gas Industry
Better Equipment
Nanotubes :Lighter, stronger and
corrosion-resistant structural materials
in platforms for offshore drilling
Silicon carbide, a ceramic powder,
exceptionally hard materials harder,
wear-resistant and more durable
drilling equipment
Small drill-hole evaluation instruments to
reduce drilling costs and to provide
greater environmental sensitivity
because of less drill waste.
6. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
New Sensors for Improving Exploration
Reliable/economical sensors from optical
fibers for measuring temperature, pressure,
oil-flow rate and acoustic waves in oil wells
“Nanodust” to provide data on reservoir
characterization, fluid-flow monitoring and
fluid-type recognition.
Explore more oil reserves sites
Remove harmful toxic substances such as NOx,
SOx and VOC from oil vapor and mercury, Cd,Pb
from soil and water
Remove Controlled agglomeration of particles
Polyimide (PI)/TiO2 membranes for gas separation
Nano filters & Nano membranes
Nano filters
Sensors
Applications: Oil & Gas Industry
7. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Applications: Oil & Gas Industry
Ceramic and intermetallic nanocoatings :
Nanomaterials coatings: Anti-wear for
drilling parts, corrosion-resistance, wear-
resistance, shock-resistance, enhanced
thermal conductivity
Designer properties to enhance hydro-
phobic or hydrophilic behavior, to enhance
materials for waterflood applications
roller-cone with bits for oil drilling
Catalysts :Nano-catalysts may also offer a
solution for on-site upgrading of bitumen and
heavy crude oil
Heavy oil will be converted into the light oil gas
8. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
What is Nanofluid/Smart fluid?
New class of fluids
Dilute liquid suspension of nanostructured materials (<100nm) in base
fluid.
Not simply liquid –solid mixture
High Specific properties such as durable & stable suspension, no
agglomeration & chemical change in fluid
Enhancing magnetic, electrical and thermal conductivity
Nanoemulsion as “Smart fluid”
Ferro fluids, suspension of nano-sized magnetic particles, are
magnetically controllable smart fluids and used in improving oil recovery
by enhancing surfactant flooding
10. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Complex phenomenon of nanofluids
Promise large-scale performance gains from tight reservoirs
Efficiently Heavy crude oil exploration
Reduce surface tension in the range of 70-90% on oil boundary in
comparison with active agent aqueous solution
Nanofluids possess enhanced
thermophysical properties
Thermal conductivity,
Thermal diffusivity,
Viscosity
Convective Heat transfer
coefficients
Nanofluids: Specific Properties
Thermophysical Properties
11. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Rheological curve of anionic surfactant aqueous solution without
addition and with addition of nanoparticles
Viscosity of surfactant aqueous solution became more than double by
adding the nanoparticles
Flow Characteristic & Interfacial Tension
Presence of nanoparticles changes rheological properties and increases the
effect of surfactant solutions on oil recovery processes
Presence of nanoparticles reduces the interfacial tension
Source: Suleimanov et al, 2011, JPSE 78, 431–437
12. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Chatzis & Morrow SPEJ (1994,561)
Oil Recovery Vs Capillary Number
Wettability alteration, advanced drag reduction and binders for sand consolidation
13. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Comparison of finite oil recovery, %OOIP (Original Oil in Place) from
Homogeneous and Heterogeneous pore medium
In homogeneous medium, finite oil recovery increases 17% compared to
water and 12% compared to surfactant solution
Nanofluids: Improved Oil Recovery
Similarly, in heterogeneous medium, the finite oil recovery increases
17% and 22% compared to surfactant and water.
Source: Suleimanov et al, 2011, JPSE 78, 431–437
14. CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED
Concluding Remarks
Nanoscience & Interfacial Engineering can lead to new development in
Oil & Gas Industry
New surfactants, nanomaterials are required to recover the immobile oil
from tight reservoir and to improve oil and gas production in an
economical way.
Nanofluid can provided solutions for EOR from exhausted oil rigs
Nanocatalyst can help to increase the production of Upstream &
downstream units with environment friendly approaches.
Extensive research required to improve the materials for oil & gas
Industries.