Chapters authored
Nanotechnology Application in Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery: Current Opinion and Recent Advances
Chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has been adjudged as an efficient oil recovery technique to recover bypassed oil and residual oil trapped in the reservoir. This EOR method relies on the injection of chemicals to boost oil recovery. Recently, due to the limitations of the application of chemical EOR methods to reservoirs having elevated temperatures and high salinity and hardness concentrations, nanotechnology have been applied to enhance its efficiency and improve oil productivity. The synergistic combination of nanoparticles and conventional EOR chemicals has opened new routes for the synthesis and application of novel materials with sterling and fascinating properties. In this chapter, an up-to-date synopsis of nanotechnology applications in chemical EOR is discussed. A detailed explanation of the mechanism and applications of these novel methods for oil recovery are appraised and analyzed. Finally, experimental and laboratory results were outlined. This overview presents extensive information about new frontiers in chemical EOR applications for sustainable energy production.
Part of the book: Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes
An Overview of Natural Surfactant Application for Enhanced Oil Recovery
Surfactant flooding is an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method that recovers residual and capillary trapped oil by improving pore scale displacement efficiency. Due to toxicity and high cost of conventional surfactant, recent trend involves the use of natural surfactant for EOR. Natural surfactants are benign and biodegradable as they are derived from plant leaves and oil extracts. Herein, a synopsis of recent trend in the incorporation of newly devised natural surfactant for EOR was reviewed. Experimental results show that the surfactants exhibited sterling properties desired for EOR such as lower adsorption, interfacial tension (IFT) reduction, stable emulsion, and wettability alteration of sandstone and carbonate rocks. Overall, natural surfactants are suitable replacement for conventional surfactant. Nonetheless, an accurate modeling and pilot scale studies of natural surfactants remain obscure in literature.
Part of the book: Enhanced Oil Recovery