Multiple-Scale Investigation of Mechanisms Responsible for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Dear Colleagues,

Increasing global demand for energy sources combined with a relatively low oil recovery factor using conventional methods promotes extensive research into enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. Although conventional chemical (alkaline, surfactant, and polymer) injection methods have been deployed for over two decades, other methods such as smart water and miscible gas injection, various thermal methods, use of nanomaterials, and ultrasonic technology are still maturing. The main challenge in applying different EOR methods has always been associated with limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms responsible for improved oil recovery. Experimental data obtained from coreflooding tests on clastic and carbonate rocks are scarce, and the results are sometimes inconsistent and even contradictory. Nothing or little is known about the effect of scale on these mechanisms; hence, further experimental studies at various scales are crucially important. On the other hand, numerical simulations performed on length scales ranging from nanometres to kilometres and employing a pore network and molecular dynamic and conventional reservoir simulation methods still encounter challenges related to upscaling procedures, inconsistent description of rock properties across different scales, and eventually lack the ability to accurately describe and predict gains from applied EOR methods.

This Special Issue is therefore inviting papers on recent advancements in various EOR methods. The Special Issue welcomes papers reporting experimental studies on multiple scales as well as numerical and theoretical works that focus on explaining the complex underlying mechanisms of well-established and novel EOR methods.

Dr. Jan Vinogradov
Dr. Mohammad Sarmadivaleh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.