A review of recent advances and prospects on nanocellulose properties and its applications in oil and gas production

Abstract

The development of unconventional resources has brought forth increased requirements for the properties of oilfield chemical materials. Reservoirs with low permeability, high heterogeneity, high temperature, and high salinity conditions challenge the success of the present development methods. Nanocellulose (NC), with many fascinating characteristics, including large specific surface area, high mechanical strength, good chemical modifiability, and good biodegradability, has received considerable research attention as a green additive applied in oil and gas production, especially in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and hydraulic fracturing (HF). The colloidal properties and interfacial compatibility of NCs are the keys to their superior performance compared to conventional chemicals. By controlling surface charges and hydrophilicity, NC fluids exhibit excellent performance in rheology improvement, oil emulsification, wettability alteration, interfacial tension reduction, and foams and Pickering emulsions stabilization. For various fracturing fluids, the presence of NCs can increase crosslinking efficiency, improve fluid viscoelasticity, reduce liquid filtration and lower frictional resistance. Moreover, NCs show a synergistic effect with surfactants in cellulose network structure enhancement, emulsions and foams stabilization, and wettability alteration. These characteristics highly enhance the oil recovery and the performance of hydraulic fracturing fluids. In this paper, the colloidal and interfacial properties of NCs and their surface modification methods are summarized. Next, recent NCs’ applications in the EOR and HF methods are introduced and their performance is compared with conventional chemicals. The mechanism of NCs in EOR and HF efficiency enhancement is revealed. Review of studies has shown that NCs exhibit great technical and economic potentials to overcome the current limitations in oil and gas production. Finally, this review provides theoretical guidance and new research directions for the efficient development of unconventional oil and gas resources.