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Applications of Nanotechnology in the Oil & Gas

Industry: Latest Trends Worldwide & Future
Challenges in Egypt

Conference Paper · April 2013

DOI: 10.2118/164716-MS

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SPE 164716

Applications of Nanotechnology in the Oil & Gas Industry: Latest Trends

Worldwide & Future Challenges in Egypt
Abdelrahman Ibrahim El-Diasty, SPE, The American University in Cairo (AUC) and Suez University, Egypt and
Adel M. Salem Ragab, The American University in Cairo (AUC) and Suez University, Egypt

Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the North Africa Technical Conference & Exhibition held in Cairo, Egypt, 15–17 April 2013.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract

Nanotechnology has become the buzz word of the decade! The precise manipulation and control of matter at dimensions of (1-
100) nanometers have revolutionized many industries including the Oil and Gas industry. Its broad impact on more than one
discipline is making it of increasing interest to concerned parties.

The Nanotechnology applications have pierced through different Petroleum disciplines from Exploration, to Reservoir,
Drilling, Completion, Production and Processing & Refinery. For instance, Nano-sensors have been developed rapidly to
enhance the resolution of the subsurface imaging leading to advanced field characterization techniques. Nanotechnology also
strikes the stage of production enormously to enhance the oil recovery via molecular modification and manipulate the
interfacial characteristics. Moreover, in a very similar fashion, it provides novel approaches to improved post production
processes.

Only very few publications were able to report the latest accomplishments in different Petroleum Engineering domains. This
paper provides an overview of the latest Nano-technological solutions in the O&G industry and covers the recent research
developments that have been carried out around the world and paves the way for many researchers and organizations who are
interested in the integration of these technological advancements, to discover the challenges and the revolution that
Nanotechnology is about to bring to O&G Industry in Egypt.

Egypt’s domestic demand for oil is increasing rapidly. Oil consumption has grown by more than 30% in the past ten years.
Also, the hydrocarbon reserves in Egypt have witnessed an average increase of 5%/year over the past seven years, while the
average recovery factor is still stuck at the 35%. Nanotechnology holds the key solution to this local production challenge as it
helps increase the recovered Oil and decrease the cost of production by eliminating problems that occur throughout the field
development operations.

Introduction

Nanotechnology is the use of very small pieces of material, at dimensions between approximately 1 and 100 nanometers, by
themselves or their manipulation to create new large scale materials, where unique phenomena enable novel applications.

In simple terms, Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the Nano-scale. Nanotechnology draws
its name from the prefix "nano".

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter- a distance equal to two to twenty atoms (depending on what type of atom) laid down
next to each other.
2 SPE 164716

Nanotechnology refers to manipulating the structure of matter on a length scale of some small number of nanometers,
interpreted by different people at different times as meaning anything from 0.1 nm (controlling the arrangement of individual
atoms) to 100 nm or more.

Richard Feynman was the first scientist to suggest (in 1959) that devices and materials could someday be fabricated to atomic
specifications. "The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom
by atom". This concept was expanded and popularized in a 1986 book ‘Engines of Creation’ by K Eric Drexler, who applied
the term nanotechnology to Feynman's vision. As shown in Figure 1, it is a comparison between different scale things
referenced to the nanometer.

Figure 1: The Scale of things referenced to Nanometer (Source: http://inl.int/)

There are many new material terminologies used in this trend of technology. To give a short overview of some of the different
types of nanomaterials, types of interest in Oil and Gas Industry can be mentioned.

Engineered Nano Materials

Nanoparticles: Nanoparticles are the simplest form of structures with sizes in the nm range. In principle, any collection of
atoms bonded together with a structural radius of < 100 nm can be considered a nanoparticle.

The tiny nature of nanoparticles results in some useful characteristics, such as an increased surface area (Figure 2.) to which
other materials can bond in ways that make for stronger or more lightweight materials. At the nanoscale, size does matter
when it comes to how molecules react to and bond with each other.

Figure 2: Increasing the surface area with nanoparticles

SPE 164716 3

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 result in a material either sinking or floating in a liquid forming ‘Nanofluid’.

Nanofluid: Nanofluids for oil and gas field applications are defined as any fluids used in the exploration and exploitation of oil
and gas that contain at least one additive with particle size in the range of 1-100 nanometers.

Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes: A fullerene is any molecule composed entirely of carbon in the form of a hollow sphere,
ellipsoid or tube. Spherical fullerenes are also called buckyballs. Cylindrical ones are called carbon nanotubes or buckytubes.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with
length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1. Nanotubes are categorized as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) (Figure 3.a)
and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs) (Figure 3.b).

Carbon Nanotubes show a unique combination of stiffness, strength, and tenacity compared to other fiber materials which
usually lack one or more of these properties. Thermal and electrical conductivity are also very high, and comparable to other
conductive materials.

(a) (b)
Figure 3: a) Single-Walled Carbon Nano Tube, b) Multi-Walled Carbon Nano Tube (Source: nanotech-now.com)

Oil and Gas Industry

Authors tried to search and collect all published and ongoing researches in an attempt to provide an overall view of all the
current and future applications of Nanotechnology in all Oil and Gas disciplines. In addition to mentioning the future
challenges that will meet Nanotechnology and how are current researches working on these challenges.

1. Exploration

Nanosensors, ranging from 1-100 nm, have captured the attention and imagination of petroleum geologists (Pitkethly, 2004).

Nanoparticles with noticeable alterations in optical, magnetic, and electrical properties compared to their bulk counterparts are
excellent tools for the development of sensors and the formation of imaging contrast agents (Krishnamoori, 2006).
Hyperpolarized silicon nanoparticles provide a novel tool for measuring and imaging in oil exploration (Song and Marcus,
2007).

There are now several active and promising programmes to develop nanosensors compatible with temperature and pressure
ratings in deep wells and hostile environments. Nanosensors are deployed in the pore space by means of “nanodust” to provide
data on reservoir characterization, fluid-flow monitoring, and fluid-type recognition (Esmaeili, 2009).

Nano-Computerized Tomography (CT) can image tight gas sands, tight shales, and tight carbonates in which the pore structure
is below what micro-CT can detect.

In addition, nanotechnology has the potential to help develop geothermal resources by enhancing thermal conductivity, and
nano-based materials could be used for geothermal production. Nanoscale metals have already been used to delineate ore
deposits for geochemical exploration (Kong and Ohadi, 2010)
4 SPE 164716

2. Drilling and Completion

2.1. Drilling Fluids

Fluid Loss Control and Wellbore stability: There are several researchers working on using nanoparticles as drilling fluid
additives to reduce the fluid loss and enhance the wellbore stability. The filter cake developed during the Nanoparticles-based
drilling fluid filtration is very thin, which implies high potential for reducing the differential pressure sticking problem and
formation damage while drilling.

In shale formations with nanodarcy (nd) permeability, the nanometer-sized pores prevent the formation of the filter cake that is
responsible for fluid loss reduction. Nanoparticles can be added to the drilling fluid to minimize shale permeability through
physically plugging the nanometer-sized pores and shut off water loss. Hence, Nanoparticles can provide potential solution for
environmentally sensitive areas where Oil-based muds used as a solution to shale instability problems (Price et al., 2012).

Bit Balling: According to (Amanullah and Al-Tahini, 2009), Nanomaterial-based drilling mud with hydrophobic film forming
capability on the bit and stabilizer surfaces is expected to eliminate the bit and stabilizer balling totally. Due to high surface
area to volume ratio and very low concentration requirement compared to macro and micromaterial-based fluids, nano-based
fluid could be the fluid of choice for drilling in shale which is very reactive, highly pliable, and tenacious and thus can stick
easily to the bit, stabilizers, tool joints, etc. as it prevents the reduction in ROP and in total operating cost.

Torque and Drag: Due to fine and very thin film forming capability of nanomaterials, nano-based fluids can provide a
significant reduction of the frictional resistance between the pipe and the borehole wall due to the formation of a continuous
and thin lubricating film in the wall-pipe interface.

Moreover, the tiny spherical nanoparticles may create an ultra-thin bed of ball bearing type surface between the pipe and the
borehole wall and thus can allow easy sliding of the drill string along the nano-based ball-bearing surface. This highlights the
extraordinary role of nano-based smart fluid in reducing the torque and drags problems of horizontal, extended reach,
multilateral and coiled tubing drilling (Amanullah and Al-Tahini, 2009).

Removal of Toxic Gases: Hydrogen sulfide is a very dangerous, toxic and corrosive gas. It can diffuse into drilling fluid from
formations during drilling of gas and oil wells. Hydrogen sulfide should be removed from the mud to reduce the environmental
pollution, protect the health of drilling workers and prevent corrosion of pipelines and equipment.

Sayyadnejad et al., 2008, used 14-25 nm zinc oxide particles size and 44-56 m2/g specific surface area to remove hydrogen
sulfide from water-based drilling fluid according to the following chemical reaction

(ZnO + H2S → ZnS + H2O)

The efficiency of these nanoparticles in the removal of hydrogen sulfide from drilling mud was evaluated and compared with
that of bulk zinc oxide. Their results demonstrated that synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles are completely able to remove
hydrogen sulfide from water based drilling mud in about 15 min., whereas bulk zinc oxide is able to remove 2.5% of hydrogen
sulfide in as long as 90 min. under the same operating conditions.

High Temperature and High Pressure (HTHP) Challenges: In high temperature and high pressure drilling (HTHP)
operations, usual drilling fluid systems have relatively poor heat transfer coefficient. The cooling efficiency of the traditional
drilling fluids decreases due to slow dissipation of heat from the surfaces of down hole tools and equipment. Hence, there is a
higher scope of equipment failure due to thermal degradation effect of high temperature.

The extremely high surface area to volume ratio of nanoparticles enhances the thermal conductivity of Nano-based drilling
fluids which provides efficient cooling of drill bit leading to a significant increase in operating life cycle of a drill bit.

Due to the presence of an astronomical high number of extremely tiny particles with huge surface area, high heat tolerance,
high thermal conductivity, high mobility, effective interaction with external and internal rock surfaces, nano-based drilling
mud systems are expected to play a pivotal role in current and future HTHP drilling operations, complex drilling conditions,
deep water drilling operations, etc. (Amanullah et. al., 2011)

Increase down hole tools life: The down hole tools and equipment are always exposed to abrasive forces due to high kinetic
energy associated with the particles present naturally in the subsurface formations and the drill solids added to the drilling fluid
SPE 164716 5

system for specific functions. These forces cause the wear and the tear for most of the down hole equipment, especially in
deviated and horizontal wells where the tools are more exposed to these abrasive forces.

Because of their extremely small size, nanoparticles are preferred to be used in drilling fluid design as their abrasive forces are
negligible with less kinetic energy impact. In addition to all advantages of using nanoparticle in mud design, it is safer than
conventional mud from the point of environmental view. The nanoparticles are added to mud in small amount, with low
concentration about 1%. So, Nano-based drilling fluids could be the fluid of choice in conducting drilling operations in
sensitive environments to protect other natural resources (Amanullah et. al., 2011).

2.2. Drilling Bits

Nanodiamond PDC Technology: Carbon nanomaterials are extremely interesting because of their unique combination of
mechanical, structural, electrical and thermal properties. In case of challenging drilling operations, harsher conditions are met
and the need for effective drilling bits increases.

Nanodiamond particles have been functionalized for polycrystalline diamond applications such as polycrystalline diamond
compact (PDC) cutters for drill bits. They give PDC cutters unique surface characteristics that allow them to integrate
homogeneously into PDC synthesis.

Chakraborty et al., 2012, studied the functionalization of nanodiamond, integration into the PDC matrix and subsequent
property enhancement in comparison to the base PDC matrix. The performance of PDC cutters produced, the behaviors and
proposed mechanisms are still an area of interest.

2.3. Down Hole Tools

High Strength Nanostructured Materials: Flow control and Completion devices such as fracturing balls, discs, and plugs
are used for sleeve actuation or stimulation diversion during fracturing. Traditional light weight material for ball or plug
applications are prone to early yielding or shape changes. The yield strength of conventional aluminum alloys is usually less
than 400 MPa.

Nanotechnology can be effectively employed to enhance the mechanical properties and other desirable properties through
engineering the material microstructure (Zhang et al., 2012).

Current polymer material must be milled away, flowed back or otherwise removed before production. Severe deformation of
currently used materials that prevent flow back have been reported, leading to potential restrictions in the tubing which
requires costly intervention operations to either remove or replace the tools and resulting in higher operational inefficiency.

Using controlled electrolytic metallic (CEM) nanostructured material that is lighter than aluminum and stronger than some
mild steels, but disintegrates when it is exposed to the appropriate fluid. The disintegration process works through
electrochemical reactions that are controlled by nanoscale coatings within the composite grain structure. The nanomatrix of the
material is high strength and has unique chemical properties that conventional materials do not.

Salinas et al., 2012, explained the chemistry and layering of the nanoscale coating within the grain structure, the unique
material properties, and lab testing data of this truly interventionless nanostructured material technology.

2.4. Cement

Cement spacer: Nano-emulsions are emulsions where the droplet size of the internal phase is in the nanoscale (<500 nm).
Due to their small dimensions they have a high surface area and show very different properties. Maserati et al., 2010 proposed
that solvent in water nano-emulsions used as cement spacer formulation could allow optimizing the cleaning of the casing
during the cement job with a high improvement of the performances of the spacers currently in use.

Maserati et al., 2010, studied the formulation of direct nano-emulsions (O/W), with a selected solvent as internal phase, in
order to improve the casing – open hole cleaning and reverse the surfaces wettability to allow better adhesion of slurry
between casing and hole.

Using this methodology, based on high efficiency system with reduced chemical dosage, can also result in a considerable
optimization of product cost of effective cement operation.
6 SPE 164716

Enhancing Cement Properties: Due to the very high surface area of nanomaterials, they can also be used in oil well
cementing to accelerate the cement hydration process, increase compressive strength, help control fluid loss, reduce
probability of casing collapse and prevent the gas migration which is one of the cementing problems in gas wells. Moreover,
they are often required in small quantities.

Santra et al., 2012, managed to investigate several types of nanomaterials to be used in the oil well cementing industry: (1)
nanosilica and nanoalumina as potential accelerators; (2) nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with high aspect
ratio to enhance mechanical properties; (3) nanomaterials to reduce permeability/porosity; and (4) nanomaterials to increase
thermal and/or electrical conductivity.

Currently, the most active research areas dealing with cement and concrete are: understanding of the hydration of cement
particles and the use of Nano-size ingredients such as alumina and Nano carbon tubes particles. CNT are expected to have
several distinct advantages as a reinforcing material for cements as compared to more traditional fibers (Rahimirad et al.,
2012).

2.5. Well Logging

Logging-while-drilling (LWD): Currently, almost all available neutron porosity logging-while-drilling (LWD) tools use He-3
detectors to detect neutrons down hole due to their mechanical robustness and the absence of the limitations to operate at high
temperatures.

Unfortunately, the lack of sufficient quantities of the He-3 isotope caused by the depletion of its stockpile accumulated during
the Cold War makes this material unavailable to well logging industry for the next 3 to 5 years. Among all other available
neutron detection technologies, only Li-6 scintillation detectors do not have limitations on neutron detection efficiency that
would prevent them from consideration for LWD applications (Nikitin and Korjik, 2012).

The key component of Li-6 scintillation detector is the scintillation material containing Li-6 isotope. To be used as detectors
for neutron porosity LWD tools based on pulsed neutron generators (PNG), such material should be able to operate at high
temperature and enable large neutron detector constructions.

Nikitin and Korjik, 2012, presented new Li-6 scintillation nanostructured glass-ceramics that perform substantially better than
all available Li-6 scintillation materials. It is this performance improvement provided by nanostructured nature of obtained
material which enables its use in the neutron detectors of PNG-based neutron porosity LWD tools.

3. Production:

3.1. Recovery of Hydrates:

Gas Hydrate is an ice-like crystalline solid formed from a mixture of water and natural gas, usually methane. Hydrates can
produce 160 times their volume of methane which is an infinite source of energy waiting to be tapped.

Bhatia and Chacko, 2011, mentioned that the recovery of gas from hydrates requires the dissociation of gas hydrates which can
be accomplished in at least three ways: thermal recovery, depressurization or by chemical inhibition. But, the problems
associated are:
 Most chemical additives (salt, methanol, and glycol) cause pipe and equipment corrosion, ecological problems.
 Preheated gas or liquid transportation down to hydrate zone is accompanied by extensive heat loss.
 Microwave or electromagnetic method also requires vast energy transfer to decomposition zone and is inefficient.

Bhatia and Chacko, 2011, suggested the injection of air-suspended self-heating Ni-Fe nanoparticles (50 nm) in the hydrate
formation through horizontal well. These particles will penetrate deep into the class I, II and H hydrate reservoir by passing
through the cavities (86-95 nm). The self-heating of Ni-Fe particles in a magnetic field is caused by hysteresis loss and
relaxation losses. These particles cause a temperature rise up to 42 0C in formation leading to disturbance in thermodynamic
equilibrium and causing the water cage to decompose and release methane. In this technique, the pressure of the fluids in
contact with hydrate is lowered, pushing the hydrate out of its stability region and leading to its decomposition.

Bhatia and Chacko, 2011, discovered that the less expensive, readily available Eggwhite (Ovalbumin) can catalyze the reaction
which results in large scale formation of these nanoparticles. The main advantage of this technique is the very low dosage
requirements (small quantity required for 1m3 of Hydrate decomposition). Moreover, the nanoparticles used are non-
poisonous, environment friendly.
SPE 164716 7

3.2. Stimulation

Viscoelastic Surfactant (VES) Stimulation Fluid: High-molecular-weight cross-linked polymer fluids have been used to
stimulate oil and gas wells for decades. These fluids exhibit exceptional viscosity, thermal stability, proppant transportability,
and fluid leak-off control. However, a major drawback of cross-linked polymer fluids is the amount of polymer residue they
leave behind. Polymer residue has been shown to significantly damage formation permeability and fracture conductivity.

Recently, viscoelastic surfactant (VES) fluids composed of low-molecular-weight surfactants have been used as hydraulic
fracturing and frac-packing fluids. The surfactants structurally arrange in brine to form rod-like micelles that exhibit
viscoelastic fluid behavior. VES fluids, once broken, leave very little residue or production damage. However, excessive fluid
leak-off and poor thermal stability has significantly limited their use (Crews and Huang, 2008).

Huang et al., 2007, investigated the nanometer-scale particles and displayed unusual surface morphologies and have high
surface reactivity. These nanometer-scale particles, through chemisorption and surface charge attraction, associate with VES
micelles to: 1) stabilize fluid viscosity at high temperatures; and 2) produce a pseudo filter cake of viscous VES fluid that
significantly reduces the rate of fluid loss and improves fluid efficiency. When internal breakers are used to break the VES
micelles, the fluid will dramatically lose its viscosity and the pseudo-filter cake will then break into nanometer-sized particles.
Since the particles are small enough to pass through the pore throat of producing formations, they will be flowed back with the
producing fluids, and no damage will be generated. The results of rheology leak-off and core flow tests will be presented for
the VES fluid systems at temperatures 150°F and 250°F as illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Illustration of Internally Breaking Pseudo-Cross-linked VES Fluid (Crews and Huang, 2008)

3.3. Scale Inhibition:

Kazemi et al., 2012, recommended preventing adhesion of Scale on Rock by Nanoscale Modification of the Surface. They
showed in their work that organosilane has some potential to prevent scale deposition directly – i.e. Even in the absence of
scale inhibitors. Creation of self-assembled organosilane films from solutions of different concentrations showed differences in
film density/thickness and in scale deposition onto the films. This suggests that there are different film structures present, with
different propensities to inhibit scale, and this in turn suggests that there is potential to optimize such films for the purpose of
inhibiting scale deposition.

Kumar et al., 2012 provided new idea that can potentially inhibit the formation of scales inside the production tubing by
Creating a super hydrophobic surface with multi-scale nano structures on the inside of the production tubing can greatly
reduce the chances of scale deposition. This surface is created on epoxy paint surfaces using a feasible dip coating process.
Microstructures are created on this surface using sandblast. Then nano structures are introduced on to the micro surface by
anchoring 50-100 micro-meter SiO2 particles and finally completed by dip coating with nano SiO2/epoxy adhesive solution as
shown in Figure 5.
8 SPE 164716

Figure 5: Silicate particles being adhered to the nano structures of epoxy resins (Kumar et al., 2012)

The hydrophobicity is further enhanced by another dip coating of a low surface energy polymer, aminopropyl. The super
hydrophobic surface shows a contact angle of 167.8 degrees (Cui et al. 2009) for water, and has high stability in basic and
common organic solvents (Kumar et al., 2012).

4. Reservoir Characterization and Management

4.1. Enhanced Oil Recovery

Nanoparticles are small enough to pass through pore throats in typical reservoirs, but they nevertheless can be retained by the
rock.

Rodriguez et al., 2009, injected concentrated (up to ~20 wt. %) aqueous suspensions of surface-treated silica nanoparticles (D
= 5 nm and 20 nm) into sedimentary rocks of different lithologies and permeabilities. The particles generally undergo little
ultimate retention, nearly all being eluted by a lengthy post flush.

The Nanoparticles in an aqueous dispersion will assemble themselves into structural arrays at a discontinuous phase such as
oil, gas, paraffin, or polymer. The particles that are present in this three-phase contact region tend to form a wedge-like
structure and force themselves between the discontinuous phase and the substrate as illustrated in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Nanoparticle structuring in the wedge-film resulting in structural disjoining pressure gradient at the wedge vertex
(Kirtiprakash et al., 2012).

Particles present in the bulk fluid exert pressure forcing the particles in the confined region forward, imparting the disjoining
pressure force. The energies that drive this mechanism are Brownian motion, and electrostatic repulsion between the particles
(Kirtiprakash et al., 2012).

The force imparted by a single particle is extremely weak, but when large amounts of small particles are present, referred to as
the particle volume fraction, the force can be upwards of 50,000 Pa at the vertex as shown in Figure 7.
SPE 164716 9

Figure 7: Nanoparticle structuring in the wedge-film (Kirtiprakash et al., 2012).

When this force is confined to the vertex of the discontinuous phases, displacement occurs in an attempt to regain equilibrium.

Ogolo et al., 2012, used nanoparticles oxides of Aluminum, Zinc, Magnesium, Iron, Zirconium, Nickel, Tin and Silicon. It was
imperative to find out the effect of these nanoparticle oxides on oil recovery since this is the primary objective of the oil
industry.

4.2. Nanosensors for Hydrocarbon Detection in Oil-Field Rocks:

Nanoparticles that show minimal retention can be employed as sensing-capability carrier to detect fluid and rock properties of
the producing zone.

For example, paramagnetic nanoparticles delivered to the target formation could evaluate fluids saturations there, with
application of magnetic field and measurement of response (Zhang et al., 2011).

In other words, Sequestering a hydrophobic compound in a Nanoparticle (NP) composed of an oxidized carbon core and a
polymer shell can be extended to efficiently transport hydrophobic compounds through oil-field rocks and selectively release
them when the rock contains oil. These readily-prepared NPs bearing cargo could be injected into the subsurface and then
recovered and analyzed for the presence of the cargo; release of the cargo would indicate the presence of oil. When used in this
manner, the NPs can be described as nanoreporters as shown in Figure 8. (Berlin et al., 2011)

Figure 8: Schematic of oil detection by nanoreporters (a) NPs (grey circle with blue lines radiating) carrying hydrophobic cargo (red
rectangles) are injected into the subsurface. (b) While flowing through the subsurface, the nanoreporters encounter oil and release
their hydrophobic cargo into the oil. (c) The nanoreporters are recovered and analyzed for the presence of the cargo; the extent of its
absence indicates the extent of subsurface oil. (Berlin et al., 2011)
10 SPE 164716

4.3. Oil-Microbe Detection Tool Using Nano Optical Fibers:

Nano Optical Fibers are used for transmission of laser light, penetrating the formation, to the required destination in the porous
rock matrix and receive the reflected light.

Jahagirdar, 2008, proposed the ‘Oil-Microbe Detection Tool’, using Nano optical fibers as a part of the tool, to detect he
bypassed oil or the oil left behind after waterflooding, which has followed a cycle of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery
(MEOR). This methodology makes the planning of EOR operation, after knowing the precise regions where bypassed oil
resides, easier and efficient.

5. Refining and Processing

The oil refining and petrochemical industry is the first area to which Nanotechnology has contributed with lots of applications
and potential solution to its challenges. Nanoparticle catalysts have been used for almost 100 years in the refinery industry.

During the last two decades, nanotechnology has made substantial contributions to refining and converting fossil fuels. The
development of mesoporous catalyst materials such as MCM-41 has significantly changed downstream refining. Nano-filters
and particles have the ability to remove harmful toxic substances such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and related acids and
acid anhydrides from vapor, and mercury from soil and water, with exact precision.

Nanotechnology further provides solutions for carbon capture and long-term storage. Emerging nanotechnology has opened
the door to the development of a new generation of nanomembranes for enhanced separation of gas streams and removal of
impurities from oil (Kong and Ohadi, 2010).

Upgrading of bitumen and heavy crude oil has been another important challenge. Because of their high density and viscosity, it
is difficult to handle and transport these chemicals to locations where they can be converted into valuable products. Nano-
catalysts may offer a solution for on-site upgrading of bitumen and heavy crude oil (Ying and Sun, 1997). Significant
resources and intense research activities have been devoted to develop processes and specifically designed nanocatalysts for
on-site field upgrading combined with hydrogen/methane production (Esmaeili, 2009).

Future Challenges in Egypt

Egypt’s domestic demand for oil is increasing rapidly. Oil consumption has grown by more than 30% in the past ten years.
Also, the hydrocarbon reserves in Egypt have witnessed an average increase of 5% / year over the past seven years, while the
average recovery factor is still stuck at the 35%.

Field development operations are considered as one of the effective solutions to meet the soaring energy demand.
Nanotechnology holds the key solution to this local production challenge as it helps increase the recovered oil and decrease the
cost of production by eliminating problems that occur throughout the field development operations.

For increasing the production, Egypt has large resources of heavy oil have not been well managed yet. Moreover, up till now,
Unconventional Resources have not been explored. Present updates technologies have to be applied to explore more fields and
improve the development operations.

Advanced methods of exploration, remote sensing and seismic with improved resolution could change the future of Oil and
Gas. Nanosensors and imaging method can improve the success of the exploration by improving data gathering, recognizing
shallow hazards, and avoiding dry holes.

For decreasing production costs, many solutions have been mentioned above for almost all massive problems occurring within
development operations from drilling through cementing, logging and completion to production.

Nanotechnology may be one of the magic solution to lots of challenges in Egypt and worldwide, but being still under research,
at least it is a must to encourage the research work on this trend and give it more interest trying to keep updated with latest
technologies worldwide.

There are numerous areas of the petroleum industry where nanotechnology can contribute to more efficient, less expensive,
and more environmentally technologies than those that are readily available. The future possibilities for nanotechnology in the
petroleum industry are identified as follows (Mokhatab et al., 2006; Esmaeili, 2009; Jackson, 2005; Kong and Ohadi, 2010):
SPE 164716 11

1) Improved success of exploration by improving data gathering, recognizing shallow hazards, and avoiding dry holes.
2) Nanotechnology-enhanced materials that provide strength and endurance to increase performance and reliability in
drilling, tubular goods, and rotating parts.
3) Improved elastomers, critical to deep drilling and drilling in high-temperature/high-pressure environments.
4) Production assurance in diagnostics, monitoring surveillance, and management strategies.
5) Corrosion management for surface, subsurface, and facilities applications.
6) Lightweight, rugged materials that reduce weight requirements on offshore platforms, and more reliable and more energy-
efficient transportation vessels.
7) Selective filtration and waste management for water and carbon nanotube applications.
8) Enhanced oil and gas recovery through reservoir property modification, facility retrofitting, gas property modification,
and water injection.
9) Refining and petrochemicals technologies.

Authors already started their journey of work on Nanotechnology, one year ago. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is one of the
main interests as a number of fields in Egypt are expected to undergo one or more enhanced oil recovery methods in the near
future. So, it may be the nearest application of Nanotechnology in actual fields in Egypt.

El-Diasty and Salem, 2013 investigated using Nanosilica particles on real Egyptian formation to compare between using
waterflooding and Nanofluid flooding as EOR methods. As shown in Figure 9, it is obvious that using water flooding to
displace the oil in place recovered 36% of IOIP at the breakthrough point while the Nanofluid flooding recovered 67% of IOIP
at the breakthrough point. This is an evidence for the ability of the Nanofluid to displace the oil better than the water.

Figure 9: The recovered oil percentages vs. the volume of the injected fluid; in terms of Pore Volume PV (El-Diasty and Salem, 2013)

Authors are also working on other applications of Nanotechnology in drilling fluids, stimulation fluids, cement and
nanosenosors with some ongoing experiments in AUC laboratories. Moreover, there are other proposed ideas under research
and will share them in cooperation with other leading academic and research institutions and Research and Development
(R&D) departments in petroleum companies.

Conclusions

This paper has provided a review on the latest research progress in Nanotechnology applications of interest and showed that
Nanotechnology offers real potentials of changing the way we look at oil and gas industry. It presented most recent laboratory
work and showed the promising future of Nanotechnology applications in the forms of structural nanomaterials, smart
nanofluids, advanced nanosensors and nanomembranes.
12 SPE 164716

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