Denmark launches major multidisciplinary project to apply nanotechnology in the oil industry.

At first glance it might appear that chalk has very little to do with the oil industry or nanotechnology. In many oil fields, however, the oil is found in chalk reservoirs and current production methods can often only extract about 25% of it. This is why the Danish government, the University of Copenhagen and a Danish oil company are funding a project called 'Nano-Chalk' to investigate ways of extracting more oil from such fields.

“The Nano-Chalk venture relies on a group of 11 senior researchers from physics, chemistry, geology, engineering, biology, geochemistry, mineralogy and crystallography”, explains project leader Susan Stipp, who is a geochemist at the University of Copenhagen. “Each field has its own research traditions and approaches — not only are the techniques different, the ways of thinking are also different.”

The project will combine results from all these different approaches to obtain new insights into the properties and behaviour of the nanoscale chalk particles and the pores between them. “There are two challenges,” says Stipp. “We have to explain to each other what we know and ask questions about what we don't know, without using the jargon that is inherent in each discipline. Then we will assemble our new results into a complete picture so we can develop new ways to modify the nanoscale properties of chalk and extract more of the oil. Even an increase in production of one percent would be useful.”

In addition to bringing university scientists from different disciplines together, Nano-Chalk also involves researchers from the oil company. “Industry and academia don't have the same agenda,” says Stipp, “so one has to be clear about that at the start. Understanding and respect for each other's perspective, expertise and curiosity are important, and it all works better with a good sense of humour.”