Advances in Enhancing Unconventional Oil/Gas Recovery, 3rd Edition
A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2026 | Viewed by 851
Special Issue Editors
Interests: unconventional oil/gas reservoir; transport in porous media; nano-micro scale fluid flow; lattice Boltzmann simulation; reservoir characterization; reservoir simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: nanoconfined hydrocarbon phase behavior; nanoconfined fluid flow mechanism; pore network modeling; numerical simulation on coalbed methane reservoirs; production data analysis method; shale gas/oil development; CO2 storage and utilization; condensate gas reservoir
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: unconventional reservoir; micro- and nanoscale flow; interfacial phenomenon; phase behavior; CO2 capture; enhanced oil recovery
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, unconventional reservoirs (tight gas/oil reservoirs, coalbed methane, shale gas/oil reservoirs, etc.) have attracted massive attention and have played a significant role in satisfying growing energy demands. Unconventional reservoirs have low-porosity and low-permeability features, which are apparently different to conventional reservoirs, with the pore size falling in the microscale or even nanoscale. The difference results in the inapplicability of traditional theories/approaches/technologies to unconventional reservoirs. Specifically, the microscopic fluid distribution mode, fluid transport mechanisms, as well as fluid phase behavior evolve with pore size, while descriptions of the relationship are still vague. Due to the aforementioned unique characteristics, there are many challenges in the development of unconventional reservoirs, which demand novel solutions for improving oil/gas recovery efficiencies. For example, there are usually massive amounts of data collected from the production field; the consolidation/analysis of these data is becoming a key enabler for the discovery of dominant production drivers in unconventional reservoirs. Furthermore, multiscale characterization and multiphase flow modeling, closely related to multi-disciplinary research, are key fundamental aspects in building predictive models for these complex unconventional media. In light of the predominant interactions on a molecular scale, the utilization of advanced molecular simulation tools requires due attention and adequate discussion.
To bridge the current knowledge gap, this Special Issue is dedicated to attracting high-quality original research and reviews, focusing on advances in enhancing unconventional oil/gas recovery. The new progress, including laboratory measurements and modeling, field case studies, reservoir simulation studies, mathematical modeling, or a combination of these, are all welcome in this Special Issue.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Enrichment and migration mechanisms;
- Fundamental studies of coupled transport, reactions, and/or mechanics;
- Petrophysical properties in unconventional reservoirs;
- New advances in hydraulic fracturing;
- Multiscale and multiphysics modeling;
- Fluid injection (gas, water, surfactant, microemulsion, etc.);
- Novel methods for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery (CO2-EOR, CCUS, chemical, microbial);
- Molecular simulation on fluid adsorption characteristics;
- Machine learning and data science applications for unlocking unconventional reservoirs;
- Practices and lessons from field applications.
Dr. Tao Zhang
Dr. Zheng Sun
Dr. Dong Feng
Dr. Wen Zhao
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2400 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.
Keywords
- unconventional reservoir
- EOR/EGR
- fluid transport
- simulation
- experiment
- CCUS
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Related Special Issue
- Advances in Enhancing Unconventional Oil/Gas Recovery in Processes (32 articles)
