Molecular Insight into CO Improving Oil Mobility in Shale Inorganic Nanopores Containing Water Films.

CO injection into shale reservoirs has been recognized as one of the most promising techniques for enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture, utilization, and storage. However, the omnipresent nanopores and the water films formed near the pore walls affect the understanding of mechanisms of CO regulating crude oil mobility in shale nanopores. In this work, we employ molecular dynamics simulations to study the occurrence and flow of CO and octane (C) mixtures in quartz nanopores containing water films, to illustrate the impact mechanisms of CO on C mobility.

Nanoscale Insights into CO Enhanced Shale Gas Recovery in Gas-Water Coexisting Kerogen Nanopores.

The presence of water clusters in kerogen nanopores reduces the occurrence and migration of methane (CH) and thus affects shale gas extraction. CO injection, as an effective approach to enhance shale gas recovery, still presents challenges in its ability to mitigate the impact of immobile water clusters within the kerogen. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations were employed to investigate the microscopic transport process of water clusters and CH following CO injection in the gas-water coexisting kerogen nanopores.