Increasing oil extraction

Research that could help salvage huge amounts of the world’s oil currently going to waste is being carried out at Aston University and Nottingham Trent University.

Experts are looking at using Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) scanners and special micro-bubbles to find a way of increasing the oil quantity being extracted from porous rock, which is often less than 30%.

All of the world’s oil is found in porous rock beneath the ground and is usually obtained by drilling two holes: water is pumped into the first, which forces oil through the second. However, only a small amount of the oil is ever taken before the water starts to re-emerge. Once this happens the borehole is closed and the remaining 70% of oil can never be recovered.

The research team, led by Senior Lecturer in Physics, Dr Martin Bencsik (Nottingham Trent) in collaboration with Dr Yvonne Perrie (Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutics; Aston University) has received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop a novel application for an MRI scanner, normally used to create an image of the inside of the human body.