Engineered Nanoparticles for Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resource Recovery

加拿大的油砂矿床位于阿尔伯塔省北部，面积超过142,200平方公里。探明储量约1680亿桶，是继阿拉伯和委内瑞拉之后世界第三大探明原油储量。加拿大其他非常规油气资源如致密油和致密气也很丰富。然而，开发这些资源是具有挑战性的，并且需要使用材料和能源密集型的过程。这些过程产生高成本和严重的环境足迹。考虑到当前的油气市场和公众意识，行业迫切需要创新、高效的工艺来维持加拿大的非常规油气利用。纳米技术，通过工程纳米颗粒（NPs），为非常规油气勘探、生产和升级提供了可行的途径。我们之前的工作已经证明了NPs在催化石油升级和改善钻井液性能方面的优越性能。我们的方法与文献的主要区别在于使用内部/原位制备/修饰的NPs。NPs的原位制备需要进行精细平衡的反应，从而更好地控制所得到的颗粒大小及其分散状态。我们的方法构成了一种平台技术，可以制备和表面改性各种无机NPs，范围在5纳米到70纳米之间，每种都适合给定的应用。目前的提案探索了内部制备和/或改性NPs的应用，以提高聚合物驱液和压裂液的功能。所要求的资金将使我们能够走下列道路。1)由强缔合NPs和聚合物组成的新型np -聚合物驱油溶胶的设计。这样的溶胶能够更好地取代石油；包括稠油在内的储层，凭借其高粘度和强连通性前缘。高度互连的np聚合物溶胶可以通过原位制备NPs来实现。此外，只需要少量的NPs来保护聚合物免受热、机械和化学降解。随后，需要更低质量的聚合物，这反过来又降低了聚合物驱的成本和环境足迹。2)粘度可调的工程智能压裂纳米流体。这种流体以最小的摩擦将支撑剂输送到致密储层。同时，一旦压裂作业完成，它不会对油气流动造成限制。考虑到当前压裂作业的成本和环境影响，智能压裂液是非常需要的。最终，我们的工作有助于提高效率，同时降低加拿大非常规油气资源利用的成本和环境影响。这反过来又吸引了更多的本地和外国投资者，为加拿大人创造了更多的就业机会。

Canada's oil sands deposit extends over 142,200 km2 in northern Alberta. With approximately 168 billion barrels of proven reserves, this deposit is the third largest proven crude oil reserve in the world following the Arabia and Venezuela. Canada's other unconventional hydrocarbon resources such as tight oil and tight gas are also abundant. Unlocking these resources is, nevertheless, challenging and employs material and energy intensive processes. These processes incur high cost and severe environmental footprint. Given the current oil and gas market and public awareness, industry is in dire need for innovative, efficient processes to sustain Canada's unconventional hydrocarbon utilization. Nanotechnology, via engineered nanoparticles (NPs), offers viable routes for unconventional hydrocarbon exploration, production and upgrading. Our previous work has demonstrated the superior performance of NPs in catalyzing oil upgrading and improving the performance of drilling fluids. A major difference between our approach and the literature is the use of in-house/in situ prepared/modified NPs. In situ preparation of NPs entails carrying out finely balanced reactions which lead to a superior control over resultant particle size and their state of dispersion. Our approach constitutes a platform technology which enables the preparation and surface modification of a wide variety of inorganic NPs ranging between 5 nm to 70 nm, each suited for a given application. The current proposal explores the application of in-house prepared and/or modified NPs to promote the functionality of polymer flooding fluids and fracturing fluids. The requested fund will enable the pursuit of the following paths. 1) The design of novel NP-polymer flooding sols composed of strongly associated NPs and polymers. Such a sol is better able to displace oil; including heavy oils, from reservoirs by virtue of its high viscosity and strongly interconnected front. Highly interconnected NP-polymer sols can be achieved via in situ preparation of NPs. Furthermore, only low amounts of the NPs are needed to preserve the polymer from thermal, mechanical and chemical degradation. Subsequently, lower mass of the polymer is needed, which in turn reduces the cost and environmental footprint of polymer flooding. 2) Engineering smart fracturing nanofluid with temperature-tunable viscosity. Such a fluid delivers the proppants to tight reservoirs with minimum friction. In the meantime, it does not pose restriction toward hydrocarbon flow, once the fracturing job is complete. Smart fracturing fluids are highly desired, especially given the cost and environmental footprint of the current fracturing operations. Ultimately, our work contributes to improving the efficacy, while reducing the cost and the environmental impact of Canada's unconventional hydrocarbon resource utilization. This, in turn, attracts more local and foreign investors, which creates more job opportunities for the Canadians.