Interaction of Heavy Crude Oil and Nanoparticles …
241
4 Role of Nanomaterials in Heavy Oil Recovery and its
Operations
In oilfields, after the primary and secondary oil recovery is done, the reservoir is
subjected to external stimulation to retrieve the oil which cannot be produced due to
the absence of a driving mechanism. The methods applied at this stage are termed as
Enhanced Oil Recovery. These methods can also be applied at the primary stage is the
oil is not mobile, as in the case of heavy oil. Processes such as gas injection, polymer
injection, steam flood, steam injection, etc., provides the heat to reduce viscosity and
also driving force to mobilize the oil at the bottom of the reservoir to increase the
production. This is achieved by injecting an external agent (liquids or gases) into the
reservoir to push the oil towards the production wells. There are several strategies
and methods to execute enhanced oil recovery techniques (thermal, chemical and
microbial EOR). Heavy oils being extremely dense and viscous are indispensably
subjected to heat treatment to unlock their movement. The interaction between oil
and nanomaterials has been an area of interest and its use in oil recovery has seen
quite a development. Especially, the treatment of heavy oil and heavy fractions has
seen substantial growth in terms of nanotechnology applications.
4.1 Interaction with Nanoparticles and its Effects on Heavy
Oil Properties
Involving nanotechnology in the field of heavy oil recovery is a way of exploring
efficient ways to implement the same process but with improved results. A clear
understanding of how these particles interact with the oil in reservoir conditions is
an area of extensive research. Their effects on parameters such as rheology of heavy
oil, compositional changes, etc., have been closely studied to obtain insight on how
to improve the processing of these oils. Metal and metal oxide particles have shown
considerable improvement in altering heavy oil properties. Heavy oil is a complex
mixture with a myriad of properties that influence each and every aspect of its flow
behavior. Heavy oils are laden with asphaltenes in the bulk which imparts them
with their semi-solid structure. Breaking or more technically called ‘cracking’ of
the asphaltene structure is the first step in making the oil more accessible to further
treatment. Cracking also distributes the long-chain asphaltene into lighter fractions
which increases the value of the oil.
4.1.1 Metallic Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles show intriguing behaviour when they are used for thermal treatments
of these heavy oils. Their effects in catalyzing the breaking of bonds in heavy oil
241
4 Role of Nanomaterials in Heavy Oil Recovery and its
Operations
In oilfields, after the primary and secondary oil recovery is done, the reservoir is
subjected to external stimulation to retrieve the oil which cannot be produced due to
the absence of a driving mechanism. The methods applied at this stage are termed as
Enhanced Oil Recovery. These methods can also be applied at the primary stage is the
oil is not mobile, as in the case of heavy oil. Processes such as gas injection, polymer
injection, steam flood, steam injection, etc., provides the heat to reduce viscosity and
also driving force to mobilize the oil at the bottom of the reservoir to increase the
production. This is achieved by injecting an external agent (liquids or gases) into the
reservoir to push the oil towards the production wells. There are several strategies
and methods to execute enhanced oil recovery techniques (thermal, chemical and
microbial EOR). Heavy oils being extremely dense and viscous are indispensably
subjected to heat treatment to unlock their movement. The interaction between oil
and nanomaterials has been an area of interest and its use in oil recovery has seen
quite a development. Especially, the treatment of heavy oil and heavy fractions has
seen substantial growth in terms of nanotechnology applications.
4.1 Interaction with Nanoparticles and its Effects on Heavy
Oil Properties
Involving nanotechnology in the field of heavy oil recovery is a way of exploring
efficient ways to implement the same process but with improved results. A clear
understanding of how these particles interact with the oil in reservoir conditions is
an area of extensive research. Their effects on parameters such as rheology of heavy
oil, compositional changes, etc., have been closely studied to obtain insight on how
to improve the processing of these oils. Metal and metal oxide particles have shown
considerable improvement in altering heavy oil properties. Heavy oil is a complex
mixture with a myriad of properties that influence each and every aspect of its flow
behavior. Heavy oils are laden with asphaltenes in the bulk which imparts them
with their semi-solid structure. Breaking or more technically called ‘cracking’ of
the asphaltene structure is the first step in making the oil more accessible to further
treatment. Cracking also distributes the long-chain asphaltene into lighter fractions
which increases the value of the oil.
4.1.1 Metallic Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles show intriguing behaviour when they are used for thermal treatments
of these heavy oils. Their effects in catalyzing the breaking of bonds in heavy oil