Application of nanotechnology by means of nanoparticles and nanodispersions in oil recovery - A comprehensive review

Although application of nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery has been reported, understanding the transport and retention of nanoparticles in the oilfield reservoir is still a crucial issue. In this research, behavior of low concentration of TiO2 nanoparticles in core plug porous media and the mechanism of increasing oil recovery were investigated. Flooding test with a concentration of 0.01% TiO2 nanoparticles showed improvement in sweeping heavy oil from 41% to 55%. Inductively coupled plasma results on the exiting effluent of the flooding test with a concentration of 0.05% TiO2 nanoparticles showed the presence of only 0.5% of injected nanoparticles, which indicates high affinity of the nanoparticles for deposition in porous media. The total amount of deposited TiO2 extracted from different cross sections of the core plug was consistent with the difference of injected and exited TiO2 material. At the entrance side, the amount of deposited TiO2 was high but decreased significantly in 0.1 cm depth, and ...

Enhanced Heavy Oil Recovery Using TiO2 Nanoparticles: Investigation of Deposition during Transport in Core Plug

Determination of the phase diagrams for the nanocrystalline forms of materials is crucial for our understanding of nanostructures and the design of functional materials using nanoscale building blocks. The ability to study such transformations in nanomaterials with controlled shape offers further insight into transition mechanisms and the influence of particular facets. Here we present an investigation of the size-dependent, temperature-induced solid–solid phase transition in copper sulfide nanorods from low- to high-chalcocite. We find the transition temperature to be substantially reduced, with the high chalcocite phase appearing in the smallest nanocrystals at temperatures so low that they are typical of photovoltaic operation. Size dependence in phase transformations suggests the possibility of accessing morphologies that are not found in bulk solids under ambient conditions. These otherwise inaccessible crystal phases could enable higher-performing materials in a range of applications, including sens...

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Size Dependence of a Temperature-Induced Solid-Solid Phase Transition in Copper(I) Sulfide

Determination of the phase diagrams for the nanocrystalline forms of materials is crucial for our understanding of nanostructures and the design of functional materials using nanoscale building blocks. The ability to study such transformations in nanomaterials with controlled shape offers further insight into transition mechanisms and the influence of particular facets. Here we present an investigation of the size-dependent, temperature-induced solid-solid phase transition in copper sulfide nanorods from low- to high-chalcocite. We find the transition temperature to be substantially reduced, with the high chalcocite phase appearing in the smallest nanocrystals at temperatures so low that they are typical of photovoltaic operation. Size dependence in phase trans- formations suggests the possibility of accessing morphologies that are not found in bulk solids at ambient conditions. These other- wise-inaccessible crystal phases could enable higher-performing materials in a range of applications, including sensing, switching, lighting, and photovoltaics.

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Size Dependence of a Temperature-Induced Solid-Solid Phase Transition in Copper(I) Sulfide - eScholarship

Nanotechnology for oilfield applications: Challenges and impact

Nanoparticle and Microparticle Flow in Porous and Fractured Media--An Experimental Study

Nanoparticle and Microparticle Flow in Porous and Fractured Media: An Experimental Study

Temperature measurements are important for the optimum development and energy extraction of enhanced and conventional geothermal resources. Currently, temperature is only measured in the wellbore, as no technology exists to provide information far into the formation. The development of temperature-sensitive nanotracers could allow for such measurements virtually anywhere in the formation. This paper describes the synthesis and characterization of two types of temperature-sensitive particles: tin-bismuth alloy nanoparticles and silica nanoparticles with covalently linked dye. Three experiments were performed with the tin-bismuth nanoparticles: a heating test, a slim-tube injection, and a Berea sandstone core injection. Both the heated sample and the effluent samples were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). A heating experiment was also performed with the dye-linked silica particles, and the heated sample was characterized using SEM imaging and fluorimetry. The feasibility of using nanomaterials as tracers to measure reservoir temperature in-situ and estimate the geolocation of these measurements is addressed.

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Smart Nanosensors for In-Situ Temperature Measurement in Fractured Geothermal Reservoirs

This report highlights the work that was done to characterize fractured geothermal reservoirs using production data. That includes methods that were developed to infer characteristic functions from production data and models that were designed to optimize reinjection scheduling into geothermal reservoirs, based on these characteristic functions. The characterization method provides a robust way of interpreting tracer and flow rate data from fractured reservoirs. The flow-rate data are used to infer the interwell connectivity, which describes how injected fluids are divided between producers in the reservoir. The tracer data are used to find the tracer kernel for each injector-producer connection. The tracer kernel describes the volume and dispersive properties of the interwell flow path. A combination of parametric and nonparametric regression methods were developed to estimate the tracer kernels for situations where data is collected at variable flow-rate or variable injected concentration conditions. The characteristic functions can be used to calibrate thermal transport models, which can in turn be used to predict the productivity of geothermal systems. This predictive model can be used to optimize injection scheduling in a geothermal reservoir, as is illustrated in this report.

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Mohammed Alaskar

Papers

Nanoparticle and Microparticle Flow in Porous and Fractured Media--An Experimental Study

Nanoparticle and Microparticle Flow in Porous and Fractured Media: An Experimental Study

Smart Nanosensors for In-Situ Temperature Measurement in Fractured Geothermal Reservoirs

Fracture Characterization in Enhanced Geothermal Systems by Wellbore and Reservoir Analysis