A comparative review on the application of green and efficient nanoparticles in EOR with the focus on asphaltene deposition

Research on novel and green nanocomposites (NCs) that are synthesized from safe materials has many advantages and is very favored among researchers. Green and novel NCs have unique characteristics, as they're environmentally friendly, nonhazardous, and safe for human health, which make them appealing to use in the petroleum industry. Based on the low concentration of nanoparticles (NPs) needed in enhanced oil recovery techniques, these materials save on project budgets. The small size of NPs (1-100 nm) enabled them to move easier through tight porous media. The application of nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery techniques supports engineers in overcoming problems associated with the deposition of asphaltene, especially in heavy oil reservoirs. Special characteristics of NPs, such as their high surface area-to-volume ratio, enabled them to attach asphaltene molecules to stabilize them and prevent asphaltene molecules from self-assembling and deposing as nano-aggregates. Asphaltene precipitation within petroleum reservoirs, well equipment, and pipelines cause pore blockage, wettability alteration, decreased efficiency, and declines in production rate. Different NPs have different asphaltene adsorption capacities, for example, in SiO2, MgO, and Al2O3, asphaltene adsorption reached about 90, 50, and 10 mg/g, respectively, at 25 degrees C. Moreover, routine enhanced oil recovery techniques can produce more oils up to 30-50 % of original oil in place, while nano-flooding methods capable of having oil recovery in the range of 50-60 %. Moreover, it was observed that, in the presence of green NCs such as silica/cardanol, asphaltene aggregation decreased in a range of 31.5-58.5 % in 500 mg/L asphaltene dosage. The current study focuses on addressing novel and green NCs and their functionality in asphaltene adsorption, asphaltene precipitation reduction, permeability reduction, and asphaltene deposition mechanisms. Moreover, differences between green NCs and commercial NPs, financial visibility and future trends of green NCs, and asphaltene deposition using new NCs were covered in this paper.