Benefits and Applications of Nanotechnology in Oil Industries: Upstream and Downstream Operations - Egypt By
Adel M. Salem Ragab, Ph. D., American University in Cairo (AUC) and Suez University, Egypt Abdelrahman Ibrahim El-Diasty, RA, American University in Cairo (AUC) and Suez University, Egypt
A
bstract
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,
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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
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it helps increase the recovered oil and decreases 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 Nanoscale. 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. 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