Uses of nanotechnology in oil and gas

Uses of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the process of controlling matter at a subatomic level and its diversity means that uses of nanotechnology are huge in number and stretch across a vast array of industries, and oil and gas stand to benefit a great deal.

In 2006 the world's first nanotechnology project was initiated to help extract more petrol from oil fields at the University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN). During standard drilling and refining oil companies are forced to leave behind as much as two barrels for every barrel of oil they produce, meaning nanotechnology could revolutionize the oil industry by saving this lost oil.

The technology developed in Australia in 2006 is known as Pepfactants. This peptide technology makes the oil industry more efficient because it can control the emulsions and foams used in a wide range of industry processes and could impact a range of products from petroleum to specialty chemicals and therapeutic drugs.

The potential for nanotechnology in oil and gas exploration is huge

But the potential for nanotechnology in oil and gas exploration has since become huge. So much so that research projects are underway across the world to develop the technology; most notably at the US-based Advanced Energy Consortium, a research body funded by 10 of the world's biggest oil companies at a cost of $1 million a year each.

Nanotechnology sends minute nanosensors down through top soil to gather information on a reservoir. In theory, the sensors could also relay information on temperature, pressure and provide mapping data.

With global oil reserves dwindling, nanotechnology has become invaluable

With global oil reserves dwindling, this technology has become invaluable, as Sean Murphy, Senior Manager at the Advanced Energy Consortium, explains, "Right now we leave around 60-70 percent of the discovered oil in the ground.

"The oil flows through pores that are not merely microscopic, they are submicron; and the pore throats can be nanometers in scale.

"Quantifying reservoir characteristics to enable improved recovery processes, like low interfacial tension surfactant flooding or carbon dioxide flooding, is where nanotechnology can really assist in improving total recovery from existing reservoirs."

But nanotechnology works on a scale small enough to penetrate these pores, meaning the sensors can collect information about oil reserves and deliver the kind of information that could significantly delay the world's peak oil deadline.

The use of nanotechnology in the oil and gas industry was discussed in the latest edition of the Next Generation Oil & Gas magazine. You can subscribe below.

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