Metallic nanoparticles for enhanced heavy oil recovery: promises and challenges

Abstract

With the increasing global energy demand, great attention has been focused on utilizing heavy oil and bitumen, which are potentially located ultra-deep underground and cannot be easily recovered. Numerous recovery approaches have been proposed for successful extraction of heavy hydrocarbons from ultra-deep reservoirs. However, these approached are often accompanied by high energy consumption, large amounts of wastewater generation, and undesirable environmental damage. Nanotechnology has appeared as one of the promising technologies for in-situ heavy oil recovery, e.g., employing metal-based nanoparticles. In this article, we provide a brief overview of metallic nanoparticles for in-situ enhanced recovery of heavy oil. It gives a general introduction of the potential advantages of nanoparticle catalysts for heavy oil recovery and illustrates the improved recovery mechanism. Some technology challenges related to this promising technology will also be pinpointed. These technology challenges need to be solved through further research and development before field applications.