Application and Progress of Nanotechnology in Oil and Gas Fields

Qi Hao

doi:10.54097/s55tyy36

Authors

Qi Hao

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/s55tyy36

Keywords:

Nano- technology; Recovery rate; Oil- displacement agent; Nano- robot.

Abstract

Nanotechnology, which emerged as a novel scientific and technological field in the 1990s, has gradually permeated the petroleum industry by virtue of its unique size and surface effects, as well as its excellent optical, electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties. It offers a new technical pathway to address development challenges in onshore oilfields, such as high water cut, strong heterogeneity, and low waterflooding recovery factor. This article reviews the origin and evolution of nanotechnology and summarizes relevant research findings and field application cases across six key areas: downhole nanosensors, drilling engineering, enhanced oil recovery, oil displacement operations, secondary development of mature oilfields, and reservoir nanorobots. The study indicates that nanomaterials and nanodevices exhibit distinct advantages in improving drilling fluid performance, reducing fluid loss, plugging high-permeability layers, altering reservoir wettability, lowering oil–water interfacial tension, and reducing injection pressure to enhance water injectivity. The research and field testing of reservoir nanorobots have achieved milestone-level progress, opening new possibilities for fine reservoir characterization and residual oil recovery. At the same time, this article identifies the technical challenges currently facing nanotechnology in petroleum industry applications and discusses future development directions, providing a reference for the large-scale deployment of nanotechnology in the petroleum sector.

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