application of nanotechnology in oil & gas industry

2

Main Articles

• Philosophy

• Overview

• Discipline

• Industrial Products

• References

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Philosophy

• Breakthroughs in nanotechnology open up the possibility of moving beyond the current alternatives for energy supply by introducing technologies that are more efficient and environmentally sound.

• Nanotechnology is characterized by collaboration among diverse disciplines, making it inherently innovative and more precise than other technologies.

Main ArticlesMain Articles

4

Philosophy (Cont)

• Such a technology may be the cornerstone of any future energy technology that offers the greatest potential for innovative solutions.

• Increasing global energy demand. (60% in next 30 years)

• Nanotechnology is an enabler that has proved to be a game changer for exploiting fossil-based fuels.

We need revolutionary breakthroughs in energy science and technology


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Philosophy (Cont)

• The oil & gas industry faces a range of materials-related challenges, which lead to increased costs and limit the operating envelope of drilling and production technologies.

• This represents a significant market opportunity for Nanomaterial-based solutions.

• However, barriers to entry and adoption are high, and collaboration between the oil industry and Nanomaterial developers has to date been limited.


6

Overview

• There are three areas of application of nanotechnology in industry– Materials – Tools– Devices.

• These have exploited the unique combinations of mechanical, thermal, electronic, optical, magnetic, and chemical properties observed at nano scales.


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Discipline

• Drilling

• Extraction

• Separation

• Piping

• Stream Plants

• Structural Nanomaterials

• Sensors and Imaging


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Drilling

• Smart Fluids

• Application of Smart Fluids

• Drilling

DisciplineDiscipline

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Smart Fluids

• A new type of fluids, which can be labeled as “Smart Fluids”

is becoming increasingly available to the oil and gas industry.

• Their Properties are controllable by some external agent.

• These nanofluids are designed by adding nanofabricated

particles to a fluid in order to enhance or improve some of its

properties.

DrillingDrilling

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Smart Fluids (Cont)

• Nanoscale particles are suspended in the liquid phase in low

volumetric fractions.

• The liquid phase can be any liquid such as oil, water, or

conventional fluid mixtures.

• The nanoparticles used in the design of such fluids are

preferably inorganic with properties of no dissolution or

aggregation in the liquid environment.

DrillingDrilling

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Smart Fluids (Cont)

• They can be designed to be compatible with reservoir fluids

and are environmentally friendly.

• Recent experiments have shown some promising nanofluids

with amazing properties such as:

– Fluids with advanced drag reduction

– Binders for sand consolidation

– Gels

– Products for wettability alteration

– Anticorrosive coatings

(Chaudhury 2003; Wasan and Nikolov 2003)

DrillingDrilling

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Smart Fluids (Cont)

A smart fluid developed in labs at the Michigan Institute of Technology

Another Example?

DrillingDrilling

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Application of Smart Fluids

• Designing specific hydrophobic or hydrophilic character into

such smart fluids, through the use of novel organic chemistry

on the surface of high-surface-area functionalized

nanoparticles, will significantly alter the mode of operating

and organizing water floods and surfactant floods.

• Moreover, by tailoring the responsivity of these smart fluids,

they can be used either to block or to increase the porosity and

tortuosity of the formations where they are injected.

DrillingDrilling

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Application of Smart Fluids (Cont)

• Engineered nanoparticles, and in particular, nanocrystalline

materials, in combination with advanced drilling fluids, are

likely to increase drilling speeds and decrease wear of drilling

parts significantly.

DrillingDrilling

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Drilling

• An advanced fluid has been developed mixed with nanosized

particles and superfine powder that significantly improve

drilling speed 1.

• This blend eliminates damage to the reservoir rock in the well,

making it possible to extract more oil.

• The most recent successes of nanotechnology

in drilling are synthetic nanoparticles, where size,

shape, and chemical interactions are controlled.

1. China’s Shandong U.

DrillingDrilling

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Drilling (Cont)

• Elastomers are critical components for drilling under the

extreme conditions of temperature and pressure.

• Developing stronger, tougher, more inert

and reliable materials for deepwater and

ultra deepwater drilling is critical.

• Advanced drilling fluids based on polymers that are physically

or chemically associated with nanoparticles along with

amphiphilic surfactants or polymers have been developed as

stimuli-sensitive materials.

DrillingDrilling

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Drilling (Cont)

• The mechanical and flow properties of these materials can be altered in response to a change in stimuli such as

– Temperature

– Salinity

– PH

and these materials can be used in

– Reservoir conformance

– Flooding

– Completion fluids

DrillingDrilling

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Drilling (Cont)

• By engineering elastomer nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes and layered silicates, ensuring mixing at the molecular level and wrapping and interpenetrating network structures, a new class of elastomers has been developed that are:

– Strong

– Tough

– Environmentally resistant

– Self-sensing for structural-health monitoring

DrillingDrilling

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Extraction

• view

• Technology


20

View

• More than 2 Barrel per 1 Barrel oil extracted, are wasted.

• Nanotechnology helps to extract more petrol from oil fields.

• The average field size of new discoveries has declined from over 200 Mln BOE1 per discovery in the 1960s to less than 50 Mln BOE in the 1990s [1].

• Giant discoveries are perhaps not yet a thing of the past, but they are rare.

• Where giant field potential does exist, it is usually in deep-water frontiers or hostile regions in terms of climate.

1. Million Barrel Oil Equivalent

ExtractionExtraction

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Technology

• Known as Pepfactants, the peptide technology can control the emulsions and foams used in a wide range of industry processes

• Pepfactant process enables the reversible and controllable making and breaking of an emulsion or foam, in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner.

• For example, Pepfactants allows for the very quick separation of oil and water as well as the reversible reformation of the emulsion.

Ref : The University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN).


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Technology (Cont)

• Also, it would change the viscosity of the oil to increase the

amount of oil extracted from each underground oil reserve.

Ref : The University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN).

Pepfactants also recently won an Emerging

Technology Award at the TechConnect

Summit 2006 Conference in Boston and is

the subject of wide industry interest.

UniQuest Pty Ltd plans to commercialisation and license the technology into a start-up company.


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Separation

• Description

• Nanomembranes


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Description

• Developing efficient chemical methods to remove impurities

from heavy oil.

• Nanosand has improved filtering properties to quickly separate

out the undesirable compounds in natural gas.

SeparationSeparation

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Description (Cont)

• Engineers at UT-Austin are developing a nanosand to purify

natural gas more economically.

• Filters and particles are now being developed with a

nanostructure that allows them to remove volatile organic

compounds from oil vapor and mercury from soil and water.


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Nanomembranes

• The convergence of top-down and bottom-up synthesis that is typical of nanomaterials has led to the development of large-scale, lightweight, and sturdy nanomembranes.

• Inspired by the success of zeolites (materials capable of separating small gases such as oxygen and nitrogen) and the development of top-down and bottom-up synthetic methods, a new generation of nanomembrance materials is being developed and deployed for the:– Separation of metal impurities in heavy oil – Impurity gases in tight gas.


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Nanomembranes (Cont)

• By exploiting methods common in the microelectronics

industry, the cost of manufacturing highly uniform and

reproducible membranes is quite competitive.

• These nanomembranes will enhance the exploitation of tight

gas significantly by providing efficient methods for:

– Removing impurities

– Separating gas streams

– Enabling GTL production


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Piping

• One of the underlying factors driving up development costs is

the need to handle increasingly hostile fluids at higher

temperatures and pressures.

• The development of methods to control the incorporation and

distribution of nanocrystalline materials in metal matrices

would lead to stronger and lighter-weight pipelines for

transportation of oil and natural gas is vital.


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Piping (Cont)

• These are likely to be especially important for the exploitation

of stranded gas.


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Stream Plants

• Description

• Heavy oil

• Gas

• Petrochemistry


31

Description

• Nanoparticles also are being used increasingly in catalysis,

where the large surface area per unit volume of nanosized

catalysts enhances reactions.

• Greater reactivity of these smaller agents reduces the quantity

of catalytic materials necessary to produce desired results.

Stream PlantsStream Plants

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Description (Cont)

• The oil industry relies on nanoscale catalysts for refining

petroleum, while saving large sums of money.


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Heavy oil

• Another area of significant challenge lies in the upgrading of bitumen and heavy crude oil.

• Because of their high density and viscosity, it is difficult to handle and transport them to locations where they could be converted into valuable products.

• Significant resources and intense research activities have been devoted to develop processes and specifically designed catalysts for on-site field upgrading combined with hydrogen/methane production.


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Heavy oil (Cont)

• These processes would incorporate a minimized and controlled carbon rejection, in conjunction with a catalytically enhanced hydrogen generation performed on the rejected carbon from the upgrading process.

• This central activity will be complemented with an effort to integrate the research for ultradispersed catalytic formulas for the in-situ upgrading of bitumen as well as for hydrogen generation from coal/coke or petroleum pitch.


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Heavy oil (Cont)

• The former requires research on specifically designed adsorbents and catalysts to be introduced into the reservoir porous media in nanosized form.

• The latter requires extensive research on both catalytic active phases and process setup as well as adopting different catalytic forms for effective contact with the gasifying materials.

• This research has the potential to generate significant technology to convert bitumen and heavy-oil reserves into products cost-effectively.


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Gas

• Near-term challenges focus on: – Liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) infrastructure and efficiency– LNG quality– Developing gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology

• Midterm challenges include:– Developing super pipelines – Constructing floating GTL platforms – Production issues – Regasification issues – Storage issues– Compressed-natural-gas transport.


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Gas (Cont)

• Long-term issues to be addressed are:– production of methane hydrates and gas by wire producing

electricity at the location of the gas source

• Nanotechnology can address the problems associated with accessing stranded natural-gas resources by developing:– Nanocatalysts and nanoscale membranes for GTL production

– Creating nanostructured materials for compressed-natural-gas transport


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Petrochemistry

• Nanocatalysis is one of the most exciting subfields to have

emerged from nanoscience.

• Its central aim is the control of chemical reactions by changing

the size, dimensionality, chemical composition and

morphology of the reaction center and by changing the

kinetics using nanopatterning of the reaction centers.


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Petrochemistry (Cont)

• This approach opens up new avenues for atom-by-atom design

of nanocatalysts with distinct and tunable chemical activity,

specificity, and selectivity.

• Exploiting methane hydrates efficiently will continue to build

on this extensive knowledge base of the use of nanocatalysts

and other downstream applications of nanotechnology.

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Structural Nanomaterials

• Definition

• Few Examples

• Nanogel

• Better Equipments


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Definition

• Structural materials can be enhanced significantly by

nanotechnology with the addition of engineered nanoparticles

and hierarchical strategies inspired and implemented by

nanoparticles.

• Improved lightweight rugged structural materials are crucial

for many applications, including:

– Weight reduction of offshore platforms

– Energy-efficient transportation vessels

– Improved and better-performing drilling parts

Structural NanomaterialsStructural Nanomaterials

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Definition (Cont)

• Parameters as :

– The large interfacial area

– The nanoconfinement resulting from

– Well-dispersed nanoparticles

leads to fundamental property changes in:

– Matrix metal

– Ceramic

– Plastic

and to a significant alteration of the paradigm of filled systems.


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Few Examples

• These are especially prominent for anisotropic nanoparticles such as

– Rodlike nanotubes (Single-walled carbon nanotubes)

– Disklike clays (montmorillonite).

• For instance, the implementation of filled polymer systems

traditionally has been associated with a tradeoff between

stiffness and toughness with increased filler loading leads to

emerging class of polymer nanocomposites.

most prominent example is nylon-6-based clay nanocomposite pioneered by Toyota


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Few Examples (Cont)

• With as much as 5 wt% of added clay, the nylon

nanocomposites demonstrated :

– A doubling of the modulus

– An impact strength that was virtually unchanged from that

of the matrix polymer.

– Reduction in the coefficient of thermal expansion

– Decrease in water-vapor permeability

• Rendering these nanocomposites extremely versatile and

attractive alternatives despite the increased cost.


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Few Examples (Cont)

• Using small quantities of nanoparticles to achieve materials,

leads to weight reduction compare with traditional elastomers.

• Nanomaterials are being developed that can absorb an

estimated 40 times their weight in oil.

Drilling


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Few Examples (Cont)

• Finally, such nanocomposites have the potential to be shape-

memory materials, with the triggering of the shape change

occurring as a result of changes in temperature, infrared light,

electrical current, or pH.

• Such shape memory-soft materials would help define a new

class of smart materials (as actuators) that could be used

downhole or in surface applications.


Sensors and Imaging

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Nanogel

• Overview

• Types

• Application

• Future


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Overview

• Advanced nanoporous Nanogel aerogel products will be on display at the “Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston”1.

• The use of Cabot's Nanogel aerogel technology enables significant advancements in pipeline and LNG ship design due to the combination of Nanogel aerogel's ultra-low conductivity and its unique mechanical properties.

1. TX from May 1 to May 4, Booth # P8904, in the Pavilion section of the OTC.06 trade show

NanogelNanogel

Frozen Smoke

Frozen Smoke

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Overview (Cont)

• Additionally, the wide temperature stability range of Nanogel

makes it an ideal solution for both high temperature and

cryogenic applications.

• One of the benefits of Nanogel aerogel is Cabot's ability to

continuously produce aerogel without supercritical drying.

NanogelNanogel

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Types

• The four new products use Nanogel aerogel, Cabot's branded

aerogel in different forms and are marketed under the names:

– Expansion Pack

– Compression Pack

– Particle Pack

– Thermal Wrap.

• These patented and patent-pending products with

conductivities ranging from 0.009 to 0.022 mW/m-K enable

significant advances for oil and gas operators.

NanogelNanogel

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Expansion Pack

• Ability of packing Nanogel in tight annular spaces such as

those in pipe-in-pipe systems.

• This combination of superb thermal performance and

mechanical strength gives new options for improving pipeline

design, particularly for systems with large temperature

differences between inner and outer pipes.

TypesTypes

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Expansion Pack (Cont)

• Creates a mechanical bond leads to transfers both axial and radial load between inner and outer pipes for:

– The reduction

– Potential for elimination

of heat-bridging centralizers.

• No air gaps.

TypesTypes

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Compression Pack

• The Compression Pack system offers operators the option to precisely "dial in" required U-values by varying the thickness of Nanogel in a given system with the same efficient method of Expansion Pack system.

• The Compression Pack also allows fully independent movement of inner and outer pipes, making it an ideal choice for operators who want to avoid mechanical bonding in their system.

In opposite with EP

In opposite with EP

TypesTypes

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Particle Pack

• Filling annular spaces of any size or dimension.

• Nanogel flows like water and with proper vibration techniques can be densely packed for long life, high performance use without settling or shifting without any residual air gaps.

Cabot has been using this technology to fill spaces as narrow as a few millimeters with Nanogel aerogel

TypesTypes

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Particle Pack (Cont)

• The Particle Pack system offers maximum flexibility to

operators looking to insulate standard or irregular geometries

with great efficiency.

• It is an excellent and economical choice for insulating

pipelines systems, and LNG ships and vessels.

TypesTypes

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Thermal Wrap

• The Thermal Wrap is Cabot's Nanogel aerogel blanket.

• The Thermal Wrap is easy to handle, and is delivered in rolls

that support rapid installation using existing pipe coating

infrastructure.

• It comes in variable widths and is compressible and

conformable yet strong and resilient.

TypesTypes

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Application

• In the LNG industry, Nanogel has been used as a key component in :

– subsea LNG pipeline design

– increase capacity and/or reduce boiloff in the design of LNG ships and storage vessels

• Cabot's grades of Nanogel particles are opacified to reduce heat transfer via radiation, opaque, or translucent and all particles have extremely high surface area (approx. 750 m2/g).

NanogelNanogel

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Future

• Major oil and gas production companies are considering

Nanogel for high-pressure, high-temperature pipelines,

cryogenic systems and long-distance subsea tiebacks.

• Aerogels are the lightest and best insulating solids in the

world.

• Nanogel, Cabot's branded aerogel is a hydrophobic aerogel

produced as particles each of which consists largely of air

(approx. 95%) trapped in nano-sized pores, that severely

inhibit heat transfer through the material.

NanogelNanogel

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Better Equipment

• All industries need strong, stable materials in virtually all of their processes.

• Nanomaterials help to produce equipments which are lighter, more resistant, and stronger.

• “GP Nano Technology Group Ltd.” in Hong Kong was one of the first to develop silicon carbide, a ceramic powder, in nano size.

• It yields exceptionally hard materials. • The company is now investigating other composites and

believes that nanocrystalline substances can contribute to harder, more wear-resistant and more durable drilling equipment.


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Better Equipment (Cont)

• Nanotubes have many potential applications within the oil

industry.

• For instance, nanotubes could be used to create lighter,

stronger, and more corrosion-resistant structural materials in

platforms for offshore drilling.

• Pollution by chemicals or gases is a difficult aspect of

petroleum production, but the signs are that nanotechnology

can make the industry considerably greener.


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Sensors and Imaging

• Description

• Futures


62

Description

• Nanosensors could be developed for applications in high-temperature and high-pressure environments where conventional sensors are not effective.

• There is significant alterations in optical, magnetic, and electrical properties of nanomaterials.

• Ability to form percolated structures at low volume fractions make excellent tools for the development of sensors and the formation of imaging-contrast agents.

• Using the anisotropic nature of many nanoparticles, the percolation is a strong function of orientation.

Sensors and ImagingSensors and Imaging

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Description (Cont)

• For appropriately processed materials, highly anisotropic

electrical and mechanical properties are observed in different

directions.

• Anisotropic nanomaterials, when combined with smart fluids,

can be used as extremely sensitive sensors for temperature,

pressure, and stress down hole under extreme conditions.


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Description (Cont)

• The most significant value as sensors results from the:

– Ability to interrogate the parameters of interest (T, P & )

without requiring contact .

– Amplification of signals by use of unique optical signatures

(such as absorption and fluorescence) of the nanoparticles

as surrogate probes of the parameters of interest.


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Description (Cont)

• By chemical modification, the nanoparticles preferentially

segregate into different fluid regions or to the pores, allowing

for improved sizing and characterization of the reservoir and

the efficacy of sweep methods employed to enhance the

recovery of oil by monitoring the flow of fluids and by real-

time monitoring of the reservoir. • The use of nanoparticles for such imaging is crucial because of

– The size of the pores – The increased surface area of the nanoparticles– The mobility associated with them


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Description (Cont)

• Finally

– The increased sensitivity of the probes

– The strength of the optical and Spectroscopic signatures of the nanoparticles

require only small amounts of nanoparticles, which could lead to:

– The development of instrumentation and methods for evaluating small test holes that minimize the footprint of the drill

– Reduce drilling costs for exploratory wells


67

Futures

• Researchers currently are developing a set of reliable and economical sensors from optical fibers for measuring temperature and pressure, oil-flow rate, and acoustic waves in oil wells.

• These new sensors are small in size, work safely in the presence of electromagnetic fields, are able to work in high temperatures and pressures, and can be changed at a sensible cost without interfering in the procedure of oil exploration.


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Futures (Cont)

• This technology could, with its accurate and reliable

measurements, make a great improvement in oil exploration.

• In the future, the industry may be using nanoscale sensors for

probing properties deep in the reservoir, allowing us to unravel

the complex nature of the rock/fluid interactions and their

effects on multiphase flow and providing the ability to design

a suitable exploitation plan for the asset.


69

Industrial Products


Nansulate

70

Nansulate

• Brazilian Oil and Gas Company, Petrobras, short for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A Giant, Requests Specifications for Industrial Nanotech's Nansulate Coating for Pipeline Project.

• What is Nansulate?

• Nansulate is a product line of water-based translucent insulation coatings containing a nanotechnology-based material well-documented to provide thermal insulation, prevent corrosion and resist mold.

Industrial Products

71

Nansulate (Cont)

• The entire Nansulate Product Line includes:

– Nansulate GP : general purpose formulation designed for wood, fiberglass and other non-metal substrates

– Nansulate PT : metal coating for pipes, tanks and other metallic substrates

– Nansulate Chill Pipe: for extreme industrial environments, designed for low temperature applications on pipes and tanks

– Nansulate High Heat : for high temperature applications

– Nansulate HomeProtect ClearCoat and HomeProtect Interior : for residential and commercial buildings

– Nansulate LDX : designed for lead encapsulation applications

Industrial Products

72

References

1. Matthew R.G. Bell, Shell Technology Ventures Inc,” International Congress of Nanotechnology (ICNT), November 7-10, 2004 San Francisco”.

2. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, U. of Houston,” Extracting the Benefits of Nanotechnology for the Oil Industry”, JPT, Nov. 2006.

3. Saeid Mokhatab, U. of Wyoming; Mariela Araujo Fresky, Imperial College, London; and M. Rafiqul Islam, Dalhousie U, “Applications of Nanotechnology in Oil and Gas E&P “.

4. Report from www.nanotechwire.com (Part of NSTI1) in : 6/13/2006,” Nanotechnology to help extract more petrol from oil fields “.

5. Matthew R.G. Bell, Shell Technology Ventures Inc. “A Case for Nanomaterials in the Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Business”.

1. Nano Science and Technology Institute

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MR Fluid

The MR fluid is liquid as shown on the left, when no magnetic field is present, but turns solid immediately after being placed in a magnetic field on the right.

application of nanotechnology in oil & gas industry

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