Nanofluidics for Energy

许多大规模的能源应用依赖于小规模的流体输送。 在过去的几年里，我们的团队和其他人已经开发了微流体方法，用于生物能源，碳封存，储层流体分析，以及量化常规微孔油气藏中的孔隙尺度运输。 然而，目前的全球能源正在被非常规石油和天然气作业重塑，即纳米多孔页岩气和致密油藏的水力压裂。 裂缝性储层中流体的运移是多组分多相流在高温高压下通过纳米孔隙和微裂缝的复杂相互作用，其可以是润湿的或非润湿的。 这是一个非常复杂的过程，人们对此知之甚少。 * 这个发现资助项目的重点是开发和应用纳米流体工具，以提供对裂缝性储层中运输的基本理解。 目标1将提供第一个数据集量化纳米碳氢化合物运输参数在相关的温度，压力和表面条件。这样的数据是根本无法获得的，有迹象表明，从最近的研究表明，一些显着偏离经典理论可以预期。 目标2将采用纳米光子结构，有效地“看到”毛细管行为的长度尺度，传统的显微镜是不可能的。 这种方法本身将是一个重大的方法学进步，并将在纳米尺度上揭示相关的毛细现象。 目标3采用整体方法，将多相多组分流体在动态流动条件下在微裂缝、纳米多孔储层中的完全耦合复杂性结合起来。 总的来说，这三个目标将为页岩气和致密油作业的核心提供一个纳米级传输现象的窗口。了解这些固有的小规模流体过程的重要性是强调了他们正在部署在北美的大规模。 特别是在加拿大的情况下，迫切需要正确地进行科学研究，正如加拿大学术院理事会2014年特别报告中所讨论的那样。 因此，这项工作的结果将直接告知加拿大的三类利益攸关方：经营者、公众和决策者。 该项目同样重要的产出是一支由高素质人员组成的专业团队，他们拥有全球独特的技能和对纳米流体输送的洞察力，为新兴能源应用提供动力。

Many large scale energy applications rely on small scale fluid transport. Over the last few years our group and others have developed microfluidic approaches for bioenergy, carbon sequestration, reservoir fluid analysis, and quantifying pore-scale transport in conventional microporous oil and gas reservoirs. Current global energy, however, is being reshaped by unconventional oil and gas operations, namely the hydraulic fracturing of nanoporous shale gas and tight oil reservoirs. Transport of fluids in fractured reservoirs is a complex interplay of multicomponent multiphase flow through both nano-pores and micro-fractures, which may be wetting or non-wetting, at high temperature and pressure. This is a very complicated process that is poorly understood. ***The focus of this Discovery Grant project is to develop and apply nanofluidic tools to provide a fundamental understanding of transport in fractured reservoirs. Aim 1 will provide the first data set quantifying nanoscale hydrocarbon transport parameters at reservoir-relevant temperatures, pressures and surface conditions. Such data are simply not available, and there are indications from recent studies that some significant deviations from classical theory can be expected. Aim 2 will employ nanophotonic structures to effectively `see' capillary behavior at length-scales where traditional microscopy is impossible. This approach will be a major methodological advance in itself, and will shed new light on the relevant capillary phenomena at nanoscales. Aim 3 takes a holistic approach to incorporate the full coupled complexity of multiphase multicomponent fluids under dynamic flow conditions in micro-fractured, nano-porous reservoirs. Collectively, these three aims will provide a window into the nanoscale transport phenomena at the heart of shale gas and tight oil operations.***The importance of understanding these inherently small-scale fluid processes is underscored by the large-scale at which they are being deployed in North America. Particularly in the Canadian context, there is a critical need to get the science right as discussed in a special 2014 report by the Canadian Council of Academies. The results of this work will thus directly inform three sets of stakeholders in Canada: operators; the public; and policy makers. An equally important output of this project is a specialized team of highly qualified personnel with globally-unique skills and insight into the nanoscale fluid transport powering emerging energy applications.**