An Overview of Nanotechnology in Upstream and Downstream of Oil and Gas Industry: Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

Nowadays, engineers and researchers have deeply perceived the application of nano-scale materials and the associated emerging technology so-called nanotechnology (NT) not only to address the existing challenges in all sciences but also to reshape the future of entire industrial world. Recently, NT has been taken into consideration tremendously for energy applications in both conventional and green types of energies. Particularly in the oil and gas industry (OGI) as the current primary energy source, NT implementation has attracted enormous attentions by researchers and companies due to increasing numerous articles that have been published every year. In this review article, an up-to-date benefits of NT applications in OGI including upstream, midstream, and downstream were highlighted. Besides, the main challenges in oil and gas fields have been discussed to show the potential of NT to overcome the obstacles. Finally, outcomes of several studies were traced in higher efficiency to demonstrate NT application in all OGI sections, and the field trials were summarized as well.