Microfluidics: an enabling screening technology for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)

Area of Science:

• Petroleum Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Oil production efficiency and environmental impact are critical global concerns.
• Macro-scale oil extraction processes are governed by micro-scale fluid dynamics and interfacial phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the application of microfluidics and microtechnology in oil extraction and recovery.
• To highlight the potential of microfluidic devices for investigating and visualizing oil & gas processes.
• To propose future research directions for microfluidics in enhanced oil recovery.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on microfluidics in the oil and gas industry.
• Analysis of microfluidic applications in fluid propagation, flooding, fracturing, and emulsification.
• Discussion of additive manufacturing (3D printing) for microfluidic device prototyping.

Main Results:

• Microfluidic devices are effective tools for studying oil & gas processes like fluid propagation and emulsification.
• Microfluidics provides insights into micro-scale phenomena controlling macro-scale oil recovery.
• Microfluidics is emerging as a valuable methodology in petroleum research.

Conclusions:

• Microfluidics can significantly improve the understanding and control of oil recovery processes.
• Further research in microfluidic applications like droplet generation and wettability control is recommended.
• Additive manufacturing can facilitate the development of microfluidic models for oil reservoir simulation.