Enhancing oil recovery using nanoparticles—a review

Hassan Aziz and Saleem Qadir Tunio

Abstract

It is predicted that worldwide the demand of energy by 2030 will rise by 50% and in contrast, oil and gas resources are declining day by day. To fulfil the demand of energy, it has now become necessary to increase the production of hydrocarbons from producing reservoirs using new enhanced oil recovery technology. Nanoparticles (NPs) having dimensions of 1–100 nm has shown the capability to solve the problem of oil recovery. The capability of nanoparticles to change certain factors inside the reservoir can significantly help in enhancing the oil recoveries from the producing reservoir. This review study aims to facilitate and encourage the researchers who are interested in enhancing oil recovery using nanoparticles. This paper presents the oil displacement mechanisms and the potential of 4 different types of nanoparticles (SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, TiO₂) in enhancing the oil recovery. Results of laboratory experiments have been presented in this paper. Finally, the review concludes by identifying the future study opportunities for researchers in the application of nanoparticles assisted EOR.