Advanced technologies and nanomaterials for sustainability in oil & gas off-shore platforms

Nanotechnology, the multidisciplinary research developed over the past years at a nanoscale level, has shown the potential to give innovative solutions in the landscape of oil and gas industry.
Its applications range from upstream exploration to downstream refining, they concern drilling and completion, enhanced/improved oil recovery, water treatment, nanomembranes, catalytic refining, anti-corrosion and anti-fouling.
In this session the focus will be on the advantages achievable by the use of new technologies and nanomaterials towards promoting the environmental awareness and increasing the sustainability of off-shore platforms.  We will present the recent results obtained in the field of renewable energy harvesting and storage by means of floating and flexible devices employing energy from the sun and from the tides. In the exploration refining area, nanomaterials for new sensores applied on Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles will be shown to offer the possibility of obtaining detailed information about deep wells and hostile ambients. Finally, in the field of the produced water treatments the employment of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for purification and recycling, for raw materials extraction and for “blue” energy production will be discussed.