Innovative techniques are highly required in the O&G industry to meet the future demand of the hydrocarbon fuels, significant efforts have been exerted on the development of new innovative technologies to increase the oil recovery. Nanotechnology has provided new promising approaches to enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques in old and marginal fields.

Nanoparticles have been developed for various applications in reservoir engineering and EOR fields. Using nanoparticles for EOR applications refers to their small size compared to the pore throat sizes; therefore, they could easily move into porous rocks without severe influence on permeability.

The applications of nanoparticles to enhance the oil recovery can be summarized in three approaches; Nanocatalysts, Nanoemulsions, and Nanofluids. In this paper, the different possible displacement mechanisms of the nanofluids are discussed.

Keywords:
Upstream Oil & Gas, enhanced recovery, surface area, diameter, concentration, retention, mechanism, pore throat, wettability alteration, injection
Subjects:
Improved and Enhanced Recovery
Copyright 2015, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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