This article, written by Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 164716, ’Applications of Nanotechnology in the Oil and Gas Industry: Latest Trends Worldwide and Future Challenges in Egypt,’ by Abdelrahman Ibrahim El-Diasty, SPE, and Adel M. Salem Ragab, American University in Cairo and Suez University, prepared for the 2013 North Africa Technical Conference & Exhibition, Cairo, 15-17 April. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
Precise manipulation and control of matter at dimensions of 1–100 nm have transformed many industries including the oil and gas industry. Nanosensors enhance the resolution of subsurface imaging, leading to advanced field-characterization techniques. Nanotechnology could greatly enhance oil recovery by use of molecular modification and by manipulating interfacial characteristics. Egypt’s oil consumption has grown by more than 30% in the past 10 years. Hydrocarbon reserves in Egypt have increased 5%/year over the past 7 years, while the average recovery factor remains at 35%. Nanotechnology is key to solving this production/ consumption imbalance.
Introduction
Nanotechnology is the use of very small pieces of material, with dimensions between approximately 1 and 100 nm, by themselves or by manipulation to create new larger-scale materials with unique phenomena enabling novel applications. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter— a distance equal to two to twenty atoms laid down next to each other (depending on the type of atom).
Nanotechnology refers to manipulating the structure of matter on a length scale of nanometers, interpreted at different times as meaning anything from 0.1 nm (controlling the arrangement of individual atoms) to 100 nm or more. Fig. 1 compares the scale of various items referenced to a nanometer.
Engineered Nanomaterials
Nanoparticles are the simplest form of structures with sizes in the nanometer range. In principle, any collection of atoms bonded together with a structural radius <100 nm can be considered a nanoparticle. The tiny nature of nanoparticles yields useful characteristics, such as increased surface area to which other materials can bond in ways that make stronger or lighter materials. At the nanoscale, size is a factor regarding how molecules react to and bond with each other.
Suspensions of nanoparticles are possible because the interaction of the particle surface with the solvent is strong enough to overcome differences in density, which usually would result in a material either sinking or floating in a liquid-forming nanofluid. Nanofluids for oil and gas applications are defined as any fluid used in the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas that contains at least one additive with a particle size in the range of 1–100 nm. A few oilfield uses are described in the following. See the complete paper for additional uses and details.
