1DQRSDUWLFOHVKHOSLQJWRUHFRYHUPRUHRLO7KH5HVHDUFK&RXQFLORI1RUZD\

SINONORWEGIANCOOPERATION:

Nanoparticleshelpingtorecovermoreoil
Whenpetroleumcompaniesabandonanoilwell,morethanhalfthereservoirsoilisusually
leftbehindastoodifficulttorecover.Now,however,muchoftheresidualoilcanbe
recoveredwiththehelpofnanoparticlesandasimplelawofphysics.
Oiltoberecoveredisconfinedintinyporeswithinrock,oftensandstone.Oftenthenaturalpressureinareservoiris
sohighthattheoilflowsupwardswhendrillingreachestherockscontainingtheoil.
Lessoilwithoutwater
Inordertomaintainthepressurewithinareservoir,oilcompanieshave
learnedtodisplacetheproducedoilbyinjectingwater.Thiswaterforces
outtheoillocatedinareasneartheinjectionpoint.Theactualinjection
pointmaybehundredsoreventhousandsofmetresawayfromthe
productionwell.
Eventually,however,waterinjectionlosesitseffect.Oncetheoilfromall
theeasilyreachedporeshasbeenrecovered,waterbeginsemerging
fromtheproductionwellinsteadofoil,atwhichpointthepetroleum
engineershavehadlittlechoicebuttoshutdownthewell.
Thepetroleumindustryandresearchcommunityhavebeenworkingfor
decadesonvarioussolutionstoincreaserecoveryrates.Onegroupof
researchersattheCentreforIntegratedPetroleumResearch(CIPR)in
Bergen,collaboratingwithresearchersinChina,hasdevelopedanew
methodforrecoveringmoreoilfromwellsandnotjustmore,farmore.

ArneSkauge,DirectoroftheCentrefor
IntegratedPetroleumResearch,isconvinced
thatnanoparticlescanhelptorecovermore
oilfromreservoirs.(Photo:CIPR)

TheChinesescientistshadalreadysucceededinrecoveringasensational
15percentoftheresidualoilintheirtestreservoirwhentheyformeda
collaborationwiththeCIPRresearcherstofindoutwhathadactually
takenplacedowninthereservoir.NowtheNorwegianpartnerinthecollaborationhassucceededinrecoveringupto
50percentoftheoilremaininginNorthSearocksamples.
Toachievethesehighrecoveryrates,theresearchersmakeuseofasimplephysicalphenomenondepictedinthe
figurebelow
Nanoscaletrafficjams
Waterinanoilreservoirflowsmuchlikethewaterinariver,acceleratinginnarrowstretchesandslowingwherethe
pathwidens.
Whenwaterispumpedintoareservoir,thepressuredifferenceforcesthewaterawayfromtheinjectionwelland
towardstheproductionwellthroughthetinyrockpores.Theseporesareallinterconnectedbyverynarrowtunnel
likepassages,andthewateracceleratesasitsqueezesitswaythroughthese.
Thenewmethodisbasedoninfusingtheinjectionwaterwithparticlesthatareconsiderablysmallerthanthetunnel
diameters.Whentheparticleenhancedwaterreachesatunnelopening,itwillacceleratefasterthantheparticles,
leavingtheparticlesbehindtoaccumulateandplugthetunnelentrance,ultimatelysealingthetunnel.
Thisforcesthefollowingwatertotakeotherpathsthroughtherocksporesandpassagesandinsomeofthese
thereisoil,whichisforcedoutwiththewaterflow.Theresultismoreoilextractedfromtheproductionwelland
higherprofitsforthepetroleumcompanies.

KWWSZZZIRUVNQLQJVUDGHWQRHQ1HZVDUWLFOH1DQRSDUWLFOHVBKHOSLQJBWRBUHFRYHUBPRUHBRLOS





1DQRSDUWLFOHVKHOSLQJWRUHFRYHUPRUHRLO7KH5HVHDUFK&RXQFLORI1RUZD\

Left:Thedensitygradientbetweenparticlesandwaterslowstheparticlesmovementthrough
thewindingpassageswithintherock.Theparticlesaccumulateandconsolidateatbottleneck
pointstoblocktherockpores.Thepressurebuildsinadjacentpores,forcingouttheoil(shown
ingreen).Right:Oncetheoilisfreed,thesurroundingpressuredrops.Theblockagesgradually
dissolveandthepolymerparticlescommenceflowingwiththewater.(Illustration:CIPR)

Elasticnanoparticles
Theparticlesthatareusedaretypically100nanometresindiameter,or100timessmallerthanthe10micronwide
tunnels.
TheBergenandBeijingresearchershavetestedavarietyofparticlesizesandtypestofindthosebestsuitedfor
pluggingtherockpores,whichturnedouttobeelasticnanoparticlesmadeofpolymerthreadsthatretractintocoils.
Theparticlesaremadefromcommercialpolyacrylamidesuchasthatusedinwatertreatmentplants.Nanoparticles
insolidformsuchassilicawerelesseffective.
Chinafirstwithfieldstudies
TheideaforthismethodofoilrecoverycamefromthetwoChineseresearchersBoPengandMingyuanLiwho
completedtheirdoctoratesinBergen10and20yearsago,respectively.TheUniversityofBergenandChina
UniversityofPetroleuminBeijinghavebeencooperatingforoveradecadeonpetroleumresearch,andthislaidthe
foundationforcollaborationonunderstandingandrefiningtheparticlemethod.
FieldstudiesinChinanotonlyyieldedmoreoil,butalsodemonstratedthatthenanoparticlesindeedformedplugs
thatsubsequentlydissolvedduringthewaterinjectionprocess.Nanoparticleswerefoundintheproductionwell500
metresaway.

ProjectmanagerKristinSpildoisworkingtofindoutwhichparticlesarebestsuitedfor
recoveringmoreoilfromdifferentrocktypes.(Photo:UiB)

TheChinesewerethefirsttousetheseparticlesinfieldstudies,saysArneSkauge,DirectorofCIPR.Thestudies
KWWSZZZIRUVNQLQJVUDGHWQRHQ1HZVDUWLFOH1DQRSDUWLFOHVBKHOSLQJBWRBUHFRYHUBPRUHBRLOS





1DQRSDUWLFOHVKHOSLQJWRUHFRYHUPRUHRLO7KH5HVHDUFK&RXQFLORI1RUZD\

showedthattheywork,buttherewerestillmanyunansweredquestionsabouthowandwhy.AtCIPRwebeganto
categorisetheparticlessize,variationinsize,andstructure.
Atfirstitwasnotknowniftheparticlescouldbeusedinseawater,sincetheChinesehaddonetheirtrialswithriver
waterandonshoreoilfields.TrialsinBergenusingrocksamplesfromtheNorthSeashowedthatthenanoparticles
alsoworkinseawaterandhelptorecoveranaverageof20?30percent,andupto50percent,moreresidualoil.
CentreofExcellenceofgreatbenefittosociety
TheCentreforIntegratedPetroleumResearch(CIPR)istheonlyinstitutionforpetroleumresearchunderthe
CentresofExcellence(SFF)scheme.CIPRisnowsupplementingitsexpertiseonoilreservoirswithnanotechnology
knowhowinseekingwaystorecoverresidualoil.
Successcouldhavefarreachingimpacts.Thestateownedpetroleumcompany,Statoil,isseekingtoincrease
currentrecoveryrates,whichrangefromunder50percent,toroughly60percent.
Wehopethisnewmethodcanhelptoraiserecoveryratesto60?65percent,saysMrSkauge.
Lookingtofieldtest
NowtheBergenresearcherswanttotestoutthemethodlargescale.
WedliketotryitintheNorthSeaandareincontactwithStatoil,butwearecertainlynottheonlyoneshopingfor
achance.Wearecompetingwithmanypromisingmethodsforraisingrecoveryrates,explainsMrSkauge.Thatis
whywemaywelltestthemethodonshoreinotherregions,suchastheMiddleEast.Severalactorsfromtherehave
contactedusafterreadingourpublishedpapers.
Stillquestionsunanswered
Inthemeantimetheresearcherswillbelearningasmuchastheycanaboutparticlesandpores.
Weareworkinghardtounderstandwhytheparticlesworkwellinsomerocktypesandmoremarginallyinothers,
saysKristineSpildo,projectmanageratCIPR.ThisiscriticalfordeterminingwhichNorthSeafieldsarebestsuited
tothemethod.
TheresearchhasreceivedfundingundertheResearchCouncilofNorwaysLargescaleProgrammefortheOptimal
ManagementofPetroleumResources(PETROMAKS)andfromStatoil,amongothers.
ThePETROMAKS2programme
TheResearchCouncilsLargescaleProgrammeforPetroleumResearch(PETROMAKS2)seekstoenhancevalue
creationforsocietybasedondevelopingandutilisingNorwegianpetroleumresourcesoptimallyandwithinan
environmentallysoundframework.
TheNANO2021programme
TheResearchCouncilsLargescaleProgrammeforNanotechnologyandAdvancedMaterials(NANO2021)is
designedtoenhancethenationalknowledgebaseinnanotechnologyandprovideabasisforindustrial
developmentandformeetingchallengesrelatedtoenergy,theenvironment,health,food,theoceansandtheuse
ofnaturalresources.
FACTSABOUTTHEPROJECTS
Theprojects:NanotechnologyEORLPSfloodforNorthSeareservoirsandNanotechnologyEORFormationof
LinkedPolymerSolutions,bothheadedbyCIPR,withadurationfrom2010to2014.EORstandsforenhancedoil
recovery,whileLPSstandsforlinkedpolymersolutions.

Writtenby:

ClaudeR.Olsen/ElseLie.Translation:DarrenMcKellep/CarolB.Eckmann

Published:

14.06.2013

Lastupdated:

14.06.2013

KWWSZZZIRUVNQLQJVUDGHWQRHQ1HZVDUWLFOH1DQRSDUWLFOHVBKHOSLQJBWRBUHFRYHUBPRUHBRLOS





1DQRSDUWLFOHVKHOSLQJWRUHFRYHUPRUHRLO7KH5HVHDUFK&RXQFLORI1RUZD\

Seealso
Combiningdisciplinesyieldsmoreoil
LargescaleProgrammeforPetroleumResearch(PETROMAKS2)
NanotechnologyandAdvancedMaterials(NANO2021)
Otherwebsites
ANewPolymerApplicationforNorthSeaReservoirs
NanosizedParticlesForEOR
PropagationofColloidalDispersionGels(CDG)inLaboratoryCorefloods

KWWSZZZIRUVNQLQJVUDGHWQRHQ1HZVDUWLFOH1DQRSDUWLFOHVBKHOSLQJBWRBUHFRYHUBPRUHBRLOS