Professional Documents
Culture Documents
References
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Main Articles
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.
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Main Articles
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)
We need revolutionary breakthroughs in energy science and technology
Nanotechnology is an enabler that has proved to be a game changer for exploiting fossil-based fuels.
Main Articles
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.
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Main Articles
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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Main Articles
Discipline
Drilling Extraction Separation Piping Stream Plants Structural Nanomaterials Sensors and Imaging
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Discipline
Drilling
Smart Fluids
Drilling
Drilling
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.
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Drilling
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Drilling
Drilling
Another Example?
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Drilling
Drilling
parts significantly.
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Drilling
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,
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Drilling
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.
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Drilling
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
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Drilling
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
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Discipline
Extraction
view Technology
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Extraction
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 deepwater frontiers or hostile regions in terms of climate.
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Extraction
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). 21
Extraction
Technology (Cont)
Also, it would change the viscosity of the oil to increase the amount of oil extracted from each underground oil reserve.
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.
Ref : The University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN). 22
Discipline
Separation
Description Nanomembranes
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Separation
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.
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Separation
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
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Separation
Nanomembranes
The convergence of top-down and bottom-up synthesis that is typical of nanomaterials has led to the development of largescale, 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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Separation
Nanomembranes (Cont)
By exploiting methods common in the microelectronics
Discipline
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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Discipline
Piping (Cont)
These are likely to be especially important for the exploitation of stranded gas.
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Discipline
Stream Plants
Description Heavy oil
Gas
Petrochemistry
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Stream Plants
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.
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Stream Plants
Description (Cont)
The oil industry relies on nanoscale catalysts for refining petroleum, while saving large sums of money.
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Stream Plants
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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Stream Plants
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Stream Plants
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Stream Plants
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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Stream Plants
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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Stream Plants
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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Discipline
Structural Nanomaterials
Definition Few Examples Nanogel
Better Equipments
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Structural Nanomaterials
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
Structural Nanomaterials
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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Structural Nanomaterials
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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Structural Nanomaterials
Rendering these nanocomposites extremely versatile and attractive alternatives despite the increased cost.
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Structural Nanomaterials
Drillin g
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Structural Nanomaterials
Structural Nanomaterials
Nanogel
Overview Types
Application
Future
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Nanogel
Overview
Advanced nanoporous Nanogel aerogel products will be on display at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston1. 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
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Nanogel
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.
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Nanogel
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.
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Types
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.
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Types
of heat-bridging centralizers.
No air gaps.
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Types
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.
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Types
Particle Pack
Filling annular spaces of any size or dimension.
Cabot has been using this technology to fill spaces as narrow as a few millimeters with Nanogel aerogel
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.
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Types
It is an excellent and economical choice for insulating pipelines systems, and LNG ships and vessels.
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Types
Thermal Wrap
The Thermal Wrap is Cabot's Nanogel aerogel blanket.
Nanogel
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).
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Nanogel
Future
Major oil and gas production companies are considering
Structural Nanomaterials
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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Structural Nanomaterials
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Discipline
Description Futures
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Description
Nanosensors could be developed for applications in hightemperature 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.
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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 realtime 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
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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
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Discipline
Industrial Products
Nansulate
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Industrial Products
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.
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Industrial Products
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
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References
1. Matthew R.G. Bell, Shell Technology Ventures Inc, International Congress of Nanotechnology (ICNT), November 7-10, 2004 San Francisco. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, U. of Houston, Extracting the Benefits of Nanotechnology for the Oil Industry, JPT, Nov. 2006. 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 . Report from www.nanotechwire.com (Part of NSTI1) in : 6/13/2006, Nanotechnology to help extract more petrol from oil fields . 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
2. 3.
4. 5.
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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.
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