Nanotechnology may be about engineering materials at a nanoscopic scale, but it is also about making a big impact through small changes.  Both aspects of the emerging technology are exemplified in a new breakthrough from Shinshu University in Japan and the oilfield services company Schlumberger—a multi-walled carbon nanotube-rubber composite that has the capacity to help double the amount of oil that can be extracted from some oil wells…

The depth at which oil can be extracted from wells is limited by the performance of the materials making up the pipeline. And the weak link in the chain is the rubber seals between sections of pipe.  The deeper the well, the hotter the environment and the greater the pressure.  Current rubber seals will operate up to a temperature of 175 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 140 mega Pascal, but begin to fail at higher temperatures and pressures.  To reach deeper reserves, higher performance materials are needed.

The new composite material was developed by Professor Morinobu Endo and his team at Shinshu University.  Endo is a pioneer of carbon nanotube research, having first observed them in the mid 1970’s.  By incorporating small quantities of multi-walled carbon nanotubes into conventional rubber, the team managed to construct oil-well pipe seals that remain operational at nearly twice the pressure and temperature of conventional seals (260 degrees Celsius and 240 mega Pascal).

In principle, these performance increases have the capacity to increase the average operating lifetime of oil wells from 40 years to 80 years, and significantly increase the oil yield per well.  Although the technology isn’t in the field yet, the potential economic impact from this development vastly outweighs the relatively small amount of nanomaterial that will underpin it.

Carbon nanotubes have been struggling to reach their potential for some time now.  In many ways, the material is a solution in search of a problem; the physical and chemical properties of carbon nanotubes are unlike any other material, but difficulties in generating and using large quantities of well-defined nanotubes have plagued their commercial use.  However, there is a chance that this deceptively simple application will mark a change in fortune for the material.

Of course, there are still issues to be resolved, including the question of safety.  Recent reports suggest that some multi-walled carbon nanotubes (long thin ones in particular) might be harmful if inhaled.  Fortunately, the opportunities for inhaling long multi-walled carbon nanotubes while using the new rubber composite are likely to be few and far between.  Even so, it would seem prudent for governments and industry to ensure any potential dangers associated with the new material are minimal throughout its lifetime, if the full economic potential of this breakthrough is to be realized.

Details of the technology behind the new carbon nanotube-rubber composite are expected to appear shortly in a major international (but currently unspecified) journal.

The original press article (in japanese) on the carbon nanotube-rubber composite can be accessed here