Nanotechnology collaborative takes aim at EOR
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[时间:2008-12-31 JPT 关注度:0]
摘要:Nanotechnology collaborative takes aim at EOR
ConocoPhillips and the University of Kansas KU have recently announce...
Nanotechnology collaborative takes aim at EOR
ConocoPhillips and the University of Kansas (KU) have recently announced a collaborative research program focused on nanotechnologies for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. The energy giant will contribute USD 400,000 per year to KU over three years toward the development of new nanotechnology-based tools aimed at oilfield stimulation.
While nanotechnology—the engineering of materials on the molecular scale—has been widely used in other industries, its use has been limited in the oil field up to now. However, the technology class has significant potential for oil and gas production, a fact that ConocoPhillips and KU aim to exploit.
The university plans to marry nanotechnology research with its Tertiary Oil Recovery Project, a program that has been in place since 1974 for the examination and development of EOR techniques. The aim is to create a new class of polymer-type nanoparticles that can be incorporated with EOR injection fluids to stimulate hydrocarbon recovery from reservoirs in more efficient and environmentally favorable ways.
In addition to funding for the project, ConocoPhillips will contribute additional evaluation resources and field testing to determine the efficacy of the products in enhancing production from existing wells.
According to Jenn-Tai Liang, KU Professor and Lead Researcher for the project, nano-based injection fluids could “lead to tens of billions of dollars in savings and improved oil recovery. If you just improve the oil recovery by one percent, you are talking about potentially tens of billions of dollars.”
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