Abstract

Chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) has been adjudged as an efficient oil recovery technique to recover bypassed oil and residual oil trapped in the reservoir. This EOR method relies on the injection of chemicals to boost oil recovery. Recently, due to the limitations of the application of chemical EOR methods to reservoirs having elevated temperatures and high salinity and hardness concentrations, nanotechnology have been applied to enhance its efficiency and improve oil productivity. The synergistic combination of nanoparticles and conventional EOR chemicals has opened new routes for the synthesis and application of novel materials with sterling and fascinating properties. In this chapter, an up-to-date synopsis of nanotechnology applications in chemical EOR is discussed. A detailed explanation of the mechanism and applications of these novel methods for oil recovery are appraised and analyzed. Finally, experimental and laboratory results were outlined. This overview presents extensive information about new frontiers in chemical EOR applications for sustainable energy production.

Keywords: chemical enhanced oil recovery, nanotechnology, surfactant, polymer, nanoparticles
