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HownanotechnologycanpushEgyptthroughitsenergycrisis

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HownanotechnologycanpushEgyptthrough
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byRachelWilliamson,May21,2015

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Nanotechnologyhasbeenusedintheoilandgassectorfordecades,butinthelast15years
companieshavebeeninvestingbiggersumsthaneverintothetechnology.
AsEgyptstrugglesthroughanenergyshortage,onescientistishopinganentrepreneurial
oilexecutivewillnoticeandutilizehisresearchonnanotechnology,andallowthefield
tofinallytakeoffinhiscountry.
Dr.AdelSalemisonlymonthsintoanewpositionatthebrandnewFutureUniversityin
Cairo,whereheheadsresearchonenhancedoilrecovery,orEORasitsknowninoil
sectorparlance,usingnanoparticles.
Thatresearchcouldadd10
20percentmoreoiltoEgyptscurrentproduction,hebelieves,
whichhasbeenindeclinesince1996.That'sbetween70,000and140,000extrabarrelsof
oilperday.Toputthatincontext,totalproductioninmajorgasoperationsinthe
KurdistanregionofIraqhasgrownsteadilytoreach70,000barrelsofoilequivalentper
day.
Moreover,ascurrenttechnologyonlyallowsfortheextractionofaboutonethirdofa
reservoirsoil,thistechnologycouldrejuvenateEgypt'slargenumberofbrownfields(oil
fieldsthathavebeendevelopedandthenshutdownaftertheeasyresourceshavebeen
extracted).Thereinliesanopportunity,Salembelieves,foraforwardthinking
businessmanorwoman.

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DrSalemexplainshowthemainfloodingapparatusfunctions.(ImagesviaDrAdel
Salem)
SalemiscurrentlytestingasandstonecoresamplefromanoilreservoirneartheBahariya
formationincentralEgypt.Theplanistofindouttheultimaterecoveryfactorusing
nanoparticles.Thesenanoparticleshavebeencreatedfromsandsilicabetweenoneand
100nanometers(verysmall).Thisnanomaterialisdissolvedinasaltwatersolutionandthe
fluidisflushedthroughthecoresample.Therecoveryfactorfromthatexperimentis
comparedtothesameprocessusingwaterandpolymerflooding.Salemsaystheresultis
promisingandcouldopenanewerainenhancedoilrecovery.
Salemhimselfhasspentyearsworkingonthesetechniques,startingatSuezUniversityand
continuingonascholarshipin2008todoaPhDatLeobenUniversityinLeobenAustria.
Nanoscienceatwork
ScribblingdiagramsonanA4notepadinhisoffice,Salemexplainedhownanoparticlesare
supposedtoworkinsideareservoir.
Ifthisisabubbleofoilandthisisasolutioncontainingsomenano,forexample,ifthis
tinyparticlemoveswithacertainforce,itcaninvadethisboundaryinterfacialtension[on
theoilbubble],andanotheroneinvadehere,andhere...whichmeansthatattheendofthe
dayitwillbreakdowntheinterfacialtensionbetweentheoilandwater,Salemsaid.
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Aftertheoilbubbleissplitintosmallerdroplets,theliquidcanmoreeasilymovethrough
thereservoirandintothewellafterit'sfloodedoncemorewithnormalwater.
Furthermore,nanoparticlesdissolvedinsteamhavetheabilitytotransferheatfromthe
earthssurfacedowntothereservoir,whichcanmaketheoillessviscousandmorelikely
tofloweasily.
Whatthismeansisitseasiertoextractoilfromareservoir.Italsomeansmoreoilcanbe
extractedinashorterperiodoftime,reducingcostsandallowingacompanytouseits
equipmentandstaffmoreeffectively.
Thechallengesinthisfieldarethesize,thematerialtype,andconcentrationofthese
nanoparticles.Itsabigchallenge,thenanomaterialitself[beit]silica,aluminum,orzinc
oxides,Salemsaid.Theotheristheconcentration.Wehavetodeterminetheoptimum
material,theoptimumsize,theoptimumconcentration,becauseallofthesecanprovoke
orcanhinderorcandamagethereservoir.Foreachreservoirpeoplehavetoexperimentto
determineallofthesefactors.
Salemusessilicaparticles,astheyarereadilyandcheaplyavailablefromChina:in
2012heboughtakilogramfor$90.
Results
Inthelab,Salemsteamachievedanoilrecoveryrateof90percent.Inthefield,thiscould
meanresultsofaround50
60percent.
ResearchersacrosstheMiddleEastarelookingintothisparticularissue,whichisjustone
ofmanydilemmasnanotechnologistsareseekingtosolveforoilandgasproducers.But
becauseeachoilreservoirisunique,successfulexperimentsinOmanandSaudiArabia
canttellresearchersorcompaniesanythingaboutreservoirsin,forexample,Egyptor
Libya.
Themostimportantthinginmyresearch[isthat]meandmygrouparethefirstwhoare
workinginthisfieldexperimentally[inEgypt],hetoldWamda.

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DrSalemholdingabagofsilicabasednanoparticles.
Challenges
ButresearchingEgyptsoilreservoirsisnotstraightforward.
Salemsaysoilcompaniesareprotectiveoftheirsitesandhesitanttohandoutcoresamples
toresearchers.Manyoftheselocationsarerestrictedduetonationalsecurity.
ButSalemsbiggesthurdleishesitanceonthepartofoilcompaniesworkinginEgyptto
usingnewtechnologytoextractoil.Hesaysmostcompaniesoperatinginthecountryrely
onthenaturalpressureofthereservoirandwaterflooding,meaningtheystopshortof
usingmoreeffectiveoptionssuchaschemicalorthermalEORsuchassteamflooding.
HereinEgyptweneedtofocusonanywaytoimproveourrecovery.Wehavetotryatype
ofchemicalfloodingandthenjumpagaintonewtechnologybecauseinexperimentalwork
allovertheworld,nanotechnologyhasproveditsefficiency.
Furthermore,althoughSalemwantstocommercializehisfindings,regulationscanprevent
universitystafffromprofitingfromtheirresearch.He'srelyingonanopenminded
businessmanorwomantorealizethebenefitsofnanotechnologyandintroduceittoEgypt.

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