Viscosity Reduction of Heavy Oil Using Nanocatalyst in Aquathermolysis Reaction

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the last several years has become an important factor in oil production due to the shortfall in high quality crude oil. Heavy oil as one of the unconventional hydrocarbons is still vastly abundant in nature and is hence frequently explored with EOR. The viscous characteristic of heavy oil necessitates further in-situ upgrading processes to be executed before extraction. An interesting upgrading method is through aquathermolysis under the addition of catalyst. This review focuses on presenting nanoparticle catalysts, such as nickel-, iron- and cobalt-based nanocatalyst. The explanation covers topics from synthesis methods and characterization up to the effect of reducing the viscosity of heavy oil. Lastly, concluding remarks and future perspectives are highlighted regarding the visibility and available approaches of developing nanofluids for EOR.